Angie Reinoehl/MDN Dr. Bill Peterson, director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, left, and Dale Lennon, right, executive director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation, came to the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot Monday, April 20, to give a presentation about the new Military Gallery addition which is currently under construction at the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum in Bismarck.

Dale Lennon, executive director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota Foundation, visited the Dakota Territory Air Museum yesterday during his 48-stop road trip through North Dakota. Lennon’s mission is to bring awareness to the Military Gallery that is currently under construction on the North Dakota State Capital Grounds in Bismarck.

Lennon has been on the road for two weeks, Minot marking his 25th stop. In addition to promoting the gallery, he said he hopes interact, connect and develop personal relationships with the North Dakotans this gallery will represent.

The 20,000-square foot gallery is part of a larger 67,000-square foot addition to the North Dakota Heritage Center, which will also include a full service restaurant, the North Dakota National Guard Regimental Room, and an outdoor courtyard and amphitheater.

Visitors can expect to walk through a complete timeline of North Dakota’s impact on military, starting with the native nations who inhabited N.D.

Lennon was joined by Dr. Bill Peterson, director of the State Historical Society of N.D., who has held his position since 2020.

Peterson said the Army National Guard had been trying to build a National Guard Museum in N.D. since 1972, but the idea never got off the launchpad. Conversations sparked again under the Burgum administration when Guardsmen approached Peterson and suggested a potential joint project, connecting a possible National Guard museum and expanded storage for the Heritage Center.

“One thing led to another and we started visiting and talking with the legislature. The suggestion was given to us by the lawmaking body that if we’re going to do this, we should just do an all-branch North Dakota military museum on the capitol grounds attached to the Heritage Center,” Peterson said.

Notable macro artifacts the historical society secured includes a Huey helicopter that served at Grand Forks Air Force Base, an MQ-1 drone flown by the 119th Wing “Happy Hooligans,” a National Guard bridge boat once stationed in Bismarck that served in Iraq during the Gulf War, as well as a National Guard Bobcat used in the Middle East.

Peterson finished his portion of the presentation by explaining the final experience of the gallery. “A large component of this is about the domestic side of the military as well. In the end is a theater that will focus on reuniting with North Dakota, coming home after a long deployment and those feelings of community and togetherness you get when you come back home,” he said.

While the historical society is still on the hunt looking for various weapons with provenance to N.D. , Lennon said they’re still, “looking for the North Dakota story,” through documents, letters and oral stories.

“The other items that we have been collecting are the personal stories,” Lennon said, “It doesn’t have to necessarily be a service person that’s giving the story, it can also be family. A lot of times the family, especially with the older generation, it’s the family members now that can share that story, and it’s very important those stories aren’t lost. I do feel that this is extremely important – if a person is comfortable sharing those stories, we want to make it as accessible as possible for them to do it.”