Heitkamp Highlights Artifacts Made by Bismarck HS Students to Honor North Dakota's Fallen Vietnam Servicemembers

Press Release

Expanding her effort to honor the North Dakotans who gave their lives in military service during the Vietnam War, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp took to the Senate floor to speak about projects made by Bismarck High School students in commemoration of the state's fallen servicemembers from the war.

Since March, Heitkamp has been collaborating with more than 150 eleventh-graders from Bismarck High School to gather information on the North Dakotans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the Vietnam War, and began a series of Senate speeches incorporating this research to honor the sacrifice of these servicemembers as the country remembers the 50th anniversary of the war.

History and English students from the school have created artifacts -- which Heitkamp spoke about on the Senate floor with photos of the projects -- as part of their ongoing efforts to further honor and recognize these men. Students made a range of artifacts, including wood carvings, model helicopters and planes, and other unique objects that carry special meaning to individual servicemembers and their families and help tell their stories. When several of these students visit Washington, D.C. in the fall, they plan to place the artifacts by the servicemembers' names at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial which lists the more than 58,000 Americans who gave their lives in service during the Vietnam War.

"We have a responsibility to thank and honor all the selfless men and women who pay the ultimate price during military service to protect our freedom and safety," said Heitkamp. "At Bismarck High School, more than 150 students are taking the time to learn about a war they weren't yet alive for by doing research, talking to friends and relatives of servicemembers who never came home from Vietnam, and doing projects based on what they learned. Over the past few months, I've been privileged to partner with these students. Their outstanding artifacts show how much we can learn from the service of others and highlight how important military service is and has always been in communities across North Dakota."

In March, Heitkamp met with these students in Bismarck and discussed with them the importance of their joint effort to honor the sacrifice and service of the North Dakotans lost in the war.

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