Other Views: North Dakotans grieve for soldiers

North Dakota reeled with the recent news that two members of the state’s National Guard had been killed and one injured Monday in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan. Spc. Tyler J. Orgaard, 20, of Bismarck, and Sgt. 1st Class Darren M. Linde, 41, of Devils Lake were killed in action. Spc. Ian Charles Placek, 23, of Bismarck, was wounded and is in stable condition at a hospital in Germany.

North Dakotans everywhere are grieving for the families of Orgaard and Linde. People’s prayers and hopes are with Spc. Placek and his loved ones.

War is an incredibly sad business.

North Dakotans answer the call to duty in large numbers. Compared to the rest of the states, a higher percentage of the state’s citizens proudly wear the uniform of the nation’s armed forces. Together, the state’s residents strongly support the men and women called to active duty. North Dakotans proudly wave the flag and are not apologetic about it.

The story about the deaths indicates that Spc. Orgaard’s parents were incredibly proud of him. We are, too. He was so young, graduating from Century High School in 2011. Sgt. Linde was married and had four children. The consequences of his death for that family are enormous. We grieve for both families.

The war in Afghanistan began shortly after 9/11 in 2001. It’s a part of the war on terrorism that has ground on for nearly a dozen years. But it never gets easier. The sacrifices do not get smaller. The pain of loss does not diminish.

Spc. Orgaard and Sgt. Linde bring to 26 the number of North Dakotans who have lost their lives in the war on terror.

The people of North Dakota will not forget the lives of these soldiers, as we have not forgotten the men and women in uniform who have served in wars throughout the nation’s history. You can see the commitment to country of these soldiers in the war memorials that stretch back over time to Dec. 7, 1941, and Pearl Harbor, and to the Continental Army led by Gen. George Washington on battlefields of our nation’s birth.

Spc. Orgaard and Sgt. Linde stood for North Dakota and the United States in Afghanistan. In the coming days, their remains will be returned to North Dakota, and people here will stand for these two soldiers and their families. It will be with sad hearts and humility. We also will stand straight with pride in these men in uniform.

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