North Dakota’s Military Gallery awareness effort hitting the road with 48-stop statewide tour

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — Former University of North Dakota football coach Dale Lennon is about to take a new spring recruiting trip in April, not for players, but to raise awareness and donations for the North Dakota Military Gallery.

Lennon, executive director for the State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation, said the 48-stop tour across the state – kicking off in Grand Forks on April 6 – will inform communities about the new Military Gallery and connect them with ways to make donations or get involved.

“It’s very grassroots,” Lennon said. “If there are five (people) there, that’s great. I’d be happy with that, but there might be 50.”

He said some veterans organizations and communities hosting his tour stops are planning other events around his visit with some providing free meals or other activities.

Soliciting donations, through money or personal military items, will be a focus of the stops, Lennon said. He added donations of $100 can be made in honor of a service member and will add their name to a digital donor display at the new gallery.

“It’s something very, very simple, but at the same time, it carries a lot of impact,” Lennon said.

Schedule for 48-stop Military Gallery tour across North Dakota. (Provided by Dale Lennon/for the North Dakota Monitor)

Construction for the $78 million Military Gallery began in July with state lawmakers chipping in just over $39 million in state funding, including a $20 million line of credit through the Bank of North Dakota. Construction of the museum in Bismarck is expected to be completed in 2027.

Michelle Brislin, a senior consultant for PACE Fundraising, the organization heading up the fundraising effort, said in a Friday email that the project still needs to raise $35 million to meet its goal.

Shirley Olgeirson, state historian for the North Dakota National Guard Foundation, said the gallery is going to cover all eras of war and North Dakota National Guard veterans have a shared history involving multiple statewide deployments during times of war.

“One clear example of that was in World War II,” Olgeirson said. “The 164th Infantry of the North Dakota National Guard was from all ends of the state from Williston across the state to Wahpeton … and all spots in between.”

She said Desert Storm in Iraq was another statewide mobilization for the Guard, the first since the Korean War.

Those experiences of service members, while individual in nature through personal artifacts, letters and oral histories, become part of a larger whole that fills in a complete story of the National Guard, like thousands of puzzle pieces fitting together.

“One person, one family is looking for that piece of information that is supplied by someone else,” she said. “It is a big puzzle that fills in all the pieces of the service of North Dakotans in every war.”

Bill Peterson, director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, said he believes Lennon’s tour is going to be received “warmly” and its impact will be “significant” in terms of raising money, items and awareness for the project.

“North Dakota punches above its weight in many, many categories and military service is one of them, but it’s a big one,” Peterson said. “We are still actively working to raise the money that we have to raise to finish the project.”

Before the tour starts, the North Dakota Military Gallery will be hosting a campaign event in Grand Forks on March 30 at the Olive Ann Hotel in collaboration with the “State of the Base” address that will be delivered the next day by Col. Alfred Rosalez, commander of 319th Reconnaissance Wing.

The last stop on Lennon’s spring tour will be April 30 at Bismarck AMVETS Post 9.

Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, and commander of the post, said Lennon’s trip and the project team’s engagement with the public has brought everyday North Dakotans into the process and effectively gives them an ownership stake in the new gallery. He added the state has always had a pride in supporting service members in North Dakota.

“I think it’s not just a matter of seeing artifacts from our military history, but a matter of immersing yourself in what that means,” Dever said.

Lennon said the State Historical Society of North Dakota is still looking for military items, such as weapons, letters from service members and artifacts that tell a story, to be included in the new gallery. More information on how to donate those items can be found on the Historical Society website. He added he also hopes to connect veterans with the State Archives to record an oral history of their service.

“Basically, it (the tour) is just trying to create some awareness,” Lennon said. “We’re going to be available to present, show you what’s going on, and at the same time answer as many questions as we possibly can and just try to make a connection.”

North Dakota Monitor reporter Michael Achterling can be reached at machterling@northdakotamonitor.com.