{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=68a49abc-345a-473b-b3ed-926318922cdc", "Heitkamp, Bismarck High School Students Honor Fallen N.D. Servicemembers at Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington", "2015-11-08", "2015", "2015-11", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "At the Memorial, Heitkamp Joined Students as they Placed their Artifacts Honoring Servicemembers by the Names on the Wall\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C.  Ahead of Veterans Day, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today joined a group of Bismarck High School (BHS) students at the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. to pay tribute to North Dakota servicemembers lost in Vietnam.\r\nHeitkamp worked with 150 BHS students for months as they researched the lives of North Dakotans lost in Vietnam around the 50th anniversary of the war, and incorporated that information into a series of 15 speeches honoring those servicemembers on the U.S. Senate floor. Last spring, as a part of that project, the students created 34 artifacts representing North Dakota servicemembers killed in the war. Today, Heitkamp joined the students as they placed those artifacts at the memorial in front of each servicemembers name on the wall.\r\nOne of those artifacts represents John Lundin, who wanted to be a farmer after completing his Army service in Vietnam. To remember him, students painted a farm scene on the scoop of a hand shovel, and on the handle wrote Johns dates of birth and death in purple to represent his Purple Heart. They also painted the handle with a Bronze Star and Silver Star  medals John earned as well. Johns family mailed the students soil from the Kansas land where John had intended to farm, and a small John Deere tractor. The students placed the Kansas soil in a jar with North Dakota soil and put the tractor on the lid.\r\nFive Bismarck students who worked on the project  including one student who worked on the artifact honoring John Lundin  were in Washington today, along with four other students and two BHS teachers who led the project.\r\nTelling the stories of the North Dakota servicemembers who never made it home from the Vietnam War has been one of the most meaningful projects Ive worked on in the Senate. And working with these students to pay tribute to fallen North Dakotans has been a true privilege, said Heitkamp. Its fitting that our work to honor North Dakota servicemembers has culminated with these students visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. just before Veterans Day. These BHS students have learned about history in such a personal way by getting to know the family and friends of those who never made it home. As they conclude their project today, I know their work will live on and that it has impacted not just them, but so many others across North Dakota who have been so moved by their efforts.\r\nIn September, Heitkamp and the BHS students celebrated the opening of an exhibit featuring the artifacts at the Heritage Center in Bismarck, before sending them to Washington to place at the national memorial. Artifacts included a personalized BHS high school football jersey, personalized model planes, and a family tree made by a student related to one of the servicemembers. The exhibit also included a poster Heitkamp created with the photos of all 198 North Dakota servicemembers who lost their lives in Vietnam.\r\nTo mark the 50thanniversary of the war, Heitkampbegan a series of speechesin March honoring service members from North Dakota who lost their lives in Vietnam, which included research from more than 150 eleventh-graders from BHS. In March, Heitkampmet with these students in Bismarckand discussed the importance of their joint effort to honor the sacrifice and service of the North Dakotans lost in the war.\r\nIn August, Heitkamp concluded her series of 15 speeches honoring the sacrifice of North Dakotans who gave their lives during the Vietnam War. Over the course of six months, Heitkamp shared the stories of the more than 160 North Dakotans who did not return home from Vietnam.\r\nVisit Senator Heitkamps website for more information about the project.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=68a49abc-345a-473b-b3ed-926318922cdc"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7876553572714329, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}