Me? I Didn’t Do Anything Special~ George Franklin’s Military Career Spans Two Wars
A young George Franklin started his military career in September of 1944 at Fort Snelling. Across the Atlantic Ocean Allied troops had reached Paris, and in the Pacific U.S. troops had landed in the Philippines. From Fort Snelling George was shipped to Texas for training. His next stop was Fort Mead, Maryland “and soon after […]
Now Their Air Force, Not Mine
Life after military retirement presents itself in many ways. Some feel the relief of pressure released, others feel sadness of a part of themselves suddenly missing. For Chief Master Sergeant (Ret.) Ernest “Kacky” Crider, it is a little bit of both that hit at different times. Kacky had a long military career both in the […]
Is Veterans Day Important to Those Still Serving?
Veterans Day is a day set aside as a time to thank and pay tribute to those Americans who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Veterans Day (not to be confused with Armed Forces Day which is usually in May) is always on November 11th. It is there to commemorate the small percentage […]
Turret Gunner Recalls ‘Black Thursday’ October 14, 1943
Art Linrud, Velva ND, was one of the World War II veterans who remembered Black Thursday, October 14, 1943, the day of the bombing mission to Schweinfurt, Germany. He was engineer and top turret gunner on B-17 Flying Fortress No. 42-3436. It was one of the relatively few planes without a nickname painted on its […]
A Legacy of Service and Community at Minot AFB
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Bruce Christianson’s personality fills a room. A conversation with him is bound to be full of intriguing anecdotes, laughter, and the energy of a man decades his junior. But while he is powerful in presence, Christianson remains humble and unassuming about his significant impact on Minot and Minot […]
A Sense of Duty – A Sense of Pride
It was a sense of duty. That’s how one Minot veteran described his commitment to military service.Andy Maragos, 80, son of a Greek immigrant, credits his father with instilling in him a strong work ethic and sense of pride in the United States. “My father came to Minot about 1915 with the railroad as a […]
Lives That Touch ~ Soldiers, Pilots & POW’s
Two lifetime friends, connected through their time at a German POW camp, are joined once again after their lives have ended through a series of events related to a book about WWII heroes in Benson County, North Dakota. Art Linrud and Merlin McCloud would visit about once a year. Art was a turret gunner on […]
Keeping the American Legion Front and Center…
It’s been a long time since Gary Knudtson put on an Army uniform, but the warrior ethos (put the mission first) has never faded from his mind.Knudtson, of Donnybrook, is 89 and served in the Army Reserves 311th General Hospital from 1959-1965 that had units in Minot, Bismarck, Grand Forks and Fargo. A 1953 Minot […]
Hiedi Miller: A Grateful Veteran with a Servant’s Heart
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (SSG) Hiedi Miller served her country and continues to help people in her community. Miller grew up in Glenburn, ND. Her father, Brian Folstad, served in the Army Reserve, in the Navy in Vietnam, and in the civil service on Minot AFB. In the fall of 1992, Miller took the Armed […]
