N.D. Guard soldier’s funeral today in Montana

SIDNEY, Mont. – Flags lined the streets here in the hometown of North Dakota National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Darren Linde, who died in Afghanistan and whose body was being laid to rest today.

Linde, 41, and Spc. Tyler Orgaard, 20, Bismarck, were killed Dec. 3 by a roadside bomb as they were clearing a road of explosives.

Linde, a father of four, most recently lived in Devils Lake, N.D., but was being buried this afternoon in his hometown of Sidney, about 45 miles southwest of Williston, N.D.

Spc. Ian C. Placek, 23, Bismarck, a member of the unit injured in the same attack, and North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple were among those who gathered at the Richland County Event Center for the funeral service, with burial to follow at the Sidney Cemetery.

Linde and Orgaard were members of the 818th Engineer Company based in Williston. Orgaard’s funeral will be Thursday in Bismarck.

Linde was a 1989 graduate of Sidney High School, where he wrestled. He also served as a volunteer firefighter in Sidney.

Linde’s survivors include his wife Adrienne of Devils Lake, his daughters, Celina of Devils Lake, Kayla Propp of Fairview, Mont., and Alexis of Devils Lake; his son, Eric Paul of Devils Lake; his father, Dwight Linde of Williston; and his mother, Debbie Buxbaum of Sidney.

Tags: north dakota, news, updates, military, montana