In a way, Jim Hillstead’s story about military service is much the same as other veterans, but in another way, it is completely different. Hillstead, who is 103 and lives quietly with his son Kelly in Kenmare, took on a significant military role when he was drafted into the Army in World War II in […]

It was June 6th 1944, D-Day…. As part of the US Army’s 4th Infantry Division (known as the Ivy Division), Sgt Edward John Zilli had crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary, landed in Scotland, rode a blacked out train to a small village in England, had several months of additional field training, and now […]

Air Force members are part of the “uniformed services”, but everyone has a unique experience during their time of service. Specifically, for enlisted Airmen, we can all relate to our rite of passage at Lackland AFB, including our joyous march down the “Bomb Run” during graduation weekend. From that location, we all dispersed into our […]

Military service is both a sacrifice and a privilege. Service members of all branches and their families are honored every Veterans Day as a thank-you for keeping America protected against foreign invaders. The US Armed Forces technically erupted during the country’s birth in 1776; however, the US Air Force has been honoring its members since […]

Walter Parcells. Parcells was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Parcells born in 1922 and spent his youth at Oberon, until the family moved, ending up at Kingston, Washington. Parcells’ father, a Benson Co. native, served in the United States Army during World War I. Walter was quick to enlist in the Army Air […]

There are many tipping points in life. The one I’ve most recently reached is that funny point when youth doesn’t seem all that long ago, but upon looking at a teenager, you can’t help think, “What a baby.” Maybe you can relate.This is a strange thing to reflect upon for Veteran’s Day, but this is […]

I often sit in line for a couple of minutes when entering Minot Air Force Base through the main gate. The few minutes gives me an opportunity to think back to the first time I entered this gate some 45 years ago, a young journalist working for a local TV station assigned to do a […]

We have some friends who grew up in northeastern North Dakota, went to college at the University of North Dakota, then worked in Grand Forks for many years. Then, the husband got a job in Minneapolis that paid far better than anything he could have ever imagined in Grand Forks or Fargo. The wife was […]

Fall. Thud. Winter. North Dakota just went from a very pleasant fall season to a heavy dose of winter in just a few hours. People who were riding bicycles or raking leaves, and children who were joyously jumping in them, turned to winter clothing and shoveling snow almost overnight. Tennis courts and golf courses closed. […]

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. —Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and Whiteman AFB, Mo., hosted senior officials representing national laboratories and academic institutions, providing them the opportunity to immerse with the mission and weapons systems of the nuclear enterprise, Oct. 17-19, 2023. Maj. Gen. Jason Armagost, 8th Air Force and Joint-Global Strike Operations Center commander, […]

Minot Area Chamber EDC (MACEDC) Task Force 21 led a delegation of North Dakota officials on a strategic military engagement with Minot Air Force Base (MAFB) and Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) to the 377 Test and Evaluation Group at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The visit included mission briefs, meeting with military leadership, […]

WASHINGTON (AFNS) —The U.S. Senate confirmed Gen. David W. Allvin Nov. 2 to be the 23rd Air Force chief of staff, partially breaking through a blockade on all military confirmations to install the decorated commander, strategist and pilot as the service’s highest-ranking officer and uniformed leader.The vote was 95 to 1. Speaking moments after his […]

Technology is great…when it works! Whether it’s old or new, a vehicle, building, equipment, or tool, the object will not function properly unless all the parts are doing their job. People are needed to maintain technology and they are required to plan, prepare, and execute a given vision. Two years from now, the final preparations […]

It was born in upstate New York, lived half its life there, the other half in Florida and died in Minot, North Dakota!!What did you ask? My wallet. I had been aware of its severe state of decline for some time and tried to replace it for at least 4 months prior to its ultimate […]

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. —Space Launch Delta 30 safely terminated an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean at 12:06 a.m. Pacific Time Nov. 1, due to an anomaly during a test launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.An anomaly is any unexpected event during the test. Since anomalies may arise […]

Rosehill Memorial Cemetery, in Minot, is physically set to receive over one thousand wreaths to remember veterans this fall, however, nearly four hundred wreaths still require sponsorship as of Monday. Volunteers from community organizations, including the Magic City Composite Squadron, Civil Air Patrol, staked in 650 holders last month to place wreaths at gravesites in […]

For 75 years the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve has been the guiding light of the Toys for Tots program, locally serving over 3,000 families by delivering toys to make the Christmas dreams of less fortunate children come true. Shaun Lewellyn, now the local coordinator for Ward, Renville and Mountrail counties, is responsible for collecting enough […]

As a writer, this piece of information is, well, really stepping outside the box. It’s about an Australian magpie who took Melbourne by storm. Many of us know that Australians love their animals and one example is they worked feverishly to save as many koalas as they could following devastating fires that happened west of […]