“They needed people, and we were just kind of a link in a food chain,” Westhope native and Vietnam War veteran Dennis “Denny” McKechnie says. “I didn’t have a choice. I got No. 19 in the lottery, and my buddy got 18. … We knew where we were going, right?”
They were just boys when their country called them.
“I didn’t want to be there, but yet, here I am with 30 guys. They don’t want to be there neither,” Denny recalls of the plane ride to Vietnam in May 1971.
He was only 20 years old.
Vietnam War veteran David “Dave” Logosz of Dickinson (read his story here) was one of 227 veterans from North Dakota who traveled to Washington, D.C., in September on the all-expenses-paid Western ND Honor Flight.
“It was quite an honor to go on the Honor Flight, and I would recommend it to every veteran to go, if possible,” he says. “It was very uplifting.”
“When I left for Vietnam and flew out of Bismarck, that's the first time that I saw my dad cry,” Vietnam War veteran David “Dave” Logosz says. “My mom and dad were there, and my grandparents were there, and they were all in tears. I'm sure they didn't think I was going to come back alive.”
But he did.
What was once a vacant corner lot is now home to an impressive 6,000-square-foot building – a monument to what can be accomplished when people work together to solve the challenges facing people living in rural areas.
Like so many small towns across North Dakota, many of Edgeley’s main street businesses had closed, leaving a row of vacant lots and empty, often deteriorating, buildings.
The community had hosted the local medical clinic for many years through a joint agreement between the city of Edgeley and Sanford Health.
Visitors to the 45th Big Iron Farm and Construction Show will immerse themselves in three days of agricultural and construction industry innovations, with plenty of opportunities to sit in the seat and test the technology.
A free concert, exhibit booths, daily demonstrations and informational sessions are all part of the schedule for the 45th annual show.
When Judy Werner of Flasher reached retirement, she knew the Medicare system would be an important part of her future, but also a daunting one.
“I’m sure the retirement plans are difficult to understand for many people,” she says, “so it's good to have a representative who has the knowledge and skills to help make those decisions.”
A historic June 20 storm brought thunderstorms, extreme winds, large hail, tornados and even a derecho – a term reserved for the most intense, widespread and long-lasting severe thunderstorms. Wind gusts were recorded up to 101 mph 5 miles northwest of Linton, 99 mph in northern Kidder County and 94 mph near Elgin. Tornados touched down across the region, including a fatal one that killed three people in rural Enderlin. Another storm-related death occured in Stutsman County.
It was the most deadly tornado North Dakota has seen in nearly five decades.
