Over the years, NDSCS has been honored to educate and employ many of our Country’s valiant Veterans. We recognize and appreciate their service and commitment to protecting the freedoms we hold dear.
NDSCS Alums and twin brothers Joseph Casavant and Gerald Casavant answered the call to service during Vietnam.
Joseph entered the Army in January of 1966 and arrived in Vietnam on December 21st, 1966 – his 21st birthday. He was an M-60 Machine Gun Operator and his mission, along with his 9th Infantry Division, was to protect Saigon from the southeast. He lost fellow soldiers to land mines, snipers, and an ambush in May 1967. Joseph’s proficiency and night training with the M-60 kept his Division from being overran during the ambush, but he lost hearing in his right ear from the explosions of concussion grenades in his trench. He was back home for Christmas of 1967 and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for Valor.
In the fall of 1968, Joseph started taking classes at NDSSS and graduated in 1970 from the Welding Program. He worked for Millerbernd Manufacturing for 40 years. Joseph and his wife Lucy split their time between Lester Prairie, MN and Gilbert, AZ. They have 3 children and 1 grandchild.
Because Joseph was sent to Vietnam first and at the time, only one family member at a time could be deployed there, Gerald was sent to Germany instead. His 68th Armor Division was assigned to guard the Berlin Wall because the Soviet Union occupied East Berlin. After leaving the army in 1971, Gerald came back to NDSSS, where he had started before being drafted, and graduated from the Drafting and Estimating Program in 1973.
Gerald served 19 years with the North Dakota National Guard’s 141 Engineer Combat Battalion, Company C. This Jamestown unit was deployed to Kuwait in 2004 during the Iraq Conflict. Over the years, Gerald has worked with Lumber companies in Bottineau and Montana and is currently retired after years as a Heating Plant Operator. Gerald and his wife LaRae currently live in Jamestown, and he has 3 children and 8 grandchildren.
We at the NDSCS Alumni Foundation recognize that American is not the land of the free without the brave. Thank you, Joseph and Gerald, and past and current Veterans, for the sacrifices you bravely made for our Country.