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D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp honored the memory of North Dakota service members who lost their lives during the Vietnam War during a speech on the U-S Senate floor this week.

Nearly 200 North Dakotans didn’t make it back home from the Vietnam War, which left a lasting impact on hundreds more in communities across our state. Heitkamp said “by coming to the Senate floor and speaking about the lives of these fallen heroes, I hope we’re able to have an ever greater appreciation for their incredible sacrifices as we pay tribute to these lost service members.”

During her speech, Heitkamp honored the following North Dakotans who were lost in the Vietnam War:

·       James Freidt – Grand Forks

·       Robert “Bobby” Schmitz – Martin

·       Loren “Doug” Hagen – Fargo

·       Michael Himmerick – Valley City

·       Larry Sikorski – Fairmount

·       Richard “Jimmy” Gaffaney, Jr. – Fargo

·       Richard Volk – Minot

·       Roger Svir – Park River

·       Willis Weber – Valley City

·       Edward Alec Werman – Hensel

·       Steve Escallier – Enlisted in Portal

·       Steven Hanson – Aneta

·       Leon Cox – Jamestown

·       Gunder Gunderson – Walhalla

·       Roy Wagner – Bismarck

Heitkamp began a series of speeches in March to honor service members from North Dakota who lost their lives in the Vietnam conflict as our country remembers the 50th anniversary of the war.

Heitkamp is collaborating with more than 150 eleventh-graders from Bismarck High School to gather information on these fallen North Dakota service members and will incorporate their research into her speeches.