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CITY, ND – (NewsDakota.com) As we celebrate this Memorial Day Weekend, let’s take some time to reflect and honor those who served our country.

Vietnam War veteran Dean Pedersen of Valley City served from June of 1968 until he was wounded by a hand grenade in May of 1969. He lost his eyesight following that attack and spent months in rehab centers recovering from other wounds he suffered in that attack before returning home to Marion, North Dakota.

Pedersen talked about his experience with Valley City High School students earlier this month in the Hi Liner Activity Center. He said troops had to watch for snakes, tigers, elephants and booby traps while being shot at by an enemy hidden in a thick jungle during the Vietnam War.

He told the students that malaria, high humidity, heat and torrential rain were also factors that soldiers had to deal with in this beautiful country that was in a war.

Pedersen told reporter Steve Urness about the importance of giving students an oral history of the war from one soldiers perspective.

Pedersen served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam after he was trained in Ft. Benning, Georgia.

Pedersen displayed some of the equipment used by Airborne troops during the Vietnam War in the next three photos below.

Photos below of Dean Pedersen while serving in Vietnam.

Above: Far left Dean Pedersen on M60 machine gun with other soldiers. 

Above photos of Dean Pedersen while serving in Vietnam.