Cavalier County
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Republican
Single Copy Volume 133
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News Coverage
Copyright © Langdon, North Dakota
Monday, November 4, 2019
Munich School has released their honor rolls, see Page 5 for list.
Turn clocks back one hour on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Index Opinion youth church community sports prof dir ag PN classified
Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8-10 page 11 page 12 Page 14-15 Page 15
actually in was far different. The double-walled tents, the cold rolling cannon that Saxlund op- winter provided challenges in erated was a 105mm Howitzer keeping warm- challenges that The Veteran Honor Flight of attached to a tank chassis and lead to creative and dangerous solutions. North Dakota and Minnesota an open top. “Our heaters were open “It looked like they would recently returned from another whirlwind trip, taking 96 veterans from the area to visit the nation’s capital and view the monuments in their honor. All branches were represented with six Marines, 15 Air Force, 18 Navy, and 57 Army- one of which was Cavalier County’s own, Burdett “Bert” Saxlund. Saxlund was originally from Lisbon before joining the United States Army National Guard in December of 1951 and deploying to Korea until August of 1952. Basic training for Saxlund and many of the North Dakota and Minnesota recruits during that time took place in Camp Rucker in Alabama. Following his completion of basic training, Saxlund was one of the recruits selected to be deployed as part of the 188th Field Artillery, Battery A. During his service he was Chief of Section and was also Platoon Sergeant. Saxlund attained the rank of Master Bert Saxlund recently returned from the Veteran Honor Sergeant before he was dis- Flight of North Dakota and Minnesota. charged. “Being able to serve was a have taken a 105 and set in pot oil heaters, but it was cold great privilege for me,” Saxlund the wheels and main structure enough that the oil wouldn’t of these tanks. We were used flow. We did the unthinkable said. During his deployment, Sax- as stationary artillery,” Saxlund thing, we mixed gas into the diesel fuel so it flowed to keep lund was stationed at the 38th shared. Because he would be sta- the heaters going,” Saxlund said. parallel supporting the first His deployment was quite tioned along the 38th paralKorean infantry division. Saxan experience. Saxlund and his lel in January, Saxlund experilund explained that while he unit would be backup to the enced the Korean winter not so was part of an artillery unit that usually brings to mind the im- different from North Dakota’s. infantry units along the line. age of a big tank. What he was Even though the squads has Battery A provided heavier fire
Legion Riders bring "Dead Inside" speaker to area EMS
never be happy, and you will regret it for the rest of your life. He was wrong. I took to it like a duck to water,” Smith recounted. The event that lead to Smith developing PTSD and ultimately attempting to end his life was an accident that occurred in 2004, when a young girl died after being in a car accident. Smith shared with the first responders present how that accident changed him as a person. It was 12 years later that the depression and PTSD came to a head, and Smith attempted to take his own life. Smith, a Type 1 diabetic, was found and taken to the emergency room where medical staff discovered he had injected 3,000 units of insulin into his body at Christopher South, NRP, talks about his experience with Post Traumatic one time. Stress Distorder during his presentation, DEAD INSIDE. Dead Inside is “Apparently I talked from a first responder perspective and speaks on mental health for for a second. The docfire, police, EMS, dispatchers and hospital personnel. Photo by Melissa tor basically told me Anderson. that he was not going to be able to save my underwent treatment for Post bama. He also served overseas life. And that's when I looked at Traumatic Stress Disorder fol- in the military providing medical him and told him that was the care. The decision came after his point. My sugar was so low, they lowing a suicide attempt. “The reason I call my presen- mother's death, where he stated couldn't even get it to register,” tation Dead Inside is because he would never find himself in Smith shared. Smith's heart stopped. For when I was going through ther- that position of terror and not nine minutes and 21 seconds apy, they always would ask 'how knowing what to do again. “I told them I was going to in October of 2016 Smith was do you feel today?' and that was always my answer- I feel dead in- EMT school, and he {college ad- dead. The staff was able to revive side,” South opened his presen- missions guy} told me I was a Smith, which started his journey moron, might have been some of recovery both physically and tation saying. Over the course of one hour truth to that. He said you will cont. on page 3 The American Legion Post #98 Riders held an event for the community of first responders in the area. The appreciation supper served spaghetti to those who attended and also provided them with one hour of continuing education credit as they heard Chris South give his presentation “Dead Inside”. South is a 25-year veteran EMS now serving in Hettinger, who
South shared his story of how he became a paramedic and the event that gave him PTSD that lead him to nearly taking his own life. The decision to become a paramedic was made when he was only 17 years old, turning down a full scholarship to pursue a dream instead of becoming one of the youngest EMTs in his high volume, urban setting of Birmingham, Ala-
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Veteran Honor Flight honors local Veterans
By Melissa Anderson Republican Editor
Turn to Page 3 to read the latest from Langdon City and Cavalier County Commission meetings.
Official Newspaper of Cavalier County Published since 1889
power for the line during and after missions any time of day. It wasn’t just the Korean soldiers that Saxlund had a view of but also the few civilians that were living in the area following the major push back of the Chinese the year prior. “There weren’t many civilians; we were on the side of a mountain, and there was some brush and that would grow in spots. The civilians would come up that mountain with A frames and pick up branches and that, tie on to the A frame. When they got that area cleaned out, they would get under their frame, lift it up and away they go,” Saxlund explained. "They had a tough life, the people that lived up towards the line. That whole country was pretty well cleaned out.” When Saxlund returned stateside, he worked for the North Dakota Highway Patrol and was a member of the North Dakota National Guard until 1956. He married his wife, Helen, in 1954 and raised two daughters. The 2019 Veterans Honor Flight has given Saxlund that chance to see the memorials honoring veterans like himself. The chartered plane carrying the 96 veterans along with staff and caretakers for some of the veterans left Fargo’s Hector International Airport on Sunday, October 20 at about 7 :30 a.m. “It’s a two and half hour nonstop flight. We didn’t fly right into Washington, D.C. We flew into Baltimore. It’s about a 40 – cont. on page 2
MMCC struggles long-term with only short-term help Maple Manor Care Center (MMCC) is committed to providing quality and professional care to its long-term residents. However, in order to do that, MMCC administrator Connie Hakanson explains the facility has come to depend on contracted employees to do just that. We spent over a million dollars on contract staff last year.
nuses to paying for training in some positions, nothing has seemed to gain the facility the local employees it desires. “I wish money would be the issue. I also think it's more difficult to get people committed today than it was years ago cause everybody in this era jumps from one job to the next to the next to the next,” Hakanson said.
So when you look at that, if we could have had our own staff, we could have given some pretty healthy bonuses, but we can't do that cause we have to make every month count,” Hakanson shared. For Hakanson, the frustration with attracting the employees that are needed has been an ongoing issue. From offering incentives such as bo-
MMCC likes to have consistent employees on staff as this gives better care to the residents. Hakanson explained that when the staff are consistent from housekeeping to dietary aides and even maintenance, the level of care improves as the staff know the residents on a more personal level. The same can be said for cont. on page 2
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