Francis Heidt

Dustin White
Editor

For years, photos of soldiers sat collecting dust in a box. Their tales waited to be told, as to not be forgotten. They had served their country, but as time passed, that sacrifice had begun to slip away from the collective memory. 

As time passed, that box would switch hands, and come into my position. Along with the transfer, a request was made, that something be done to honor the memory of those soldiers. Nearly another year would pass until work would begin on documenting those who were pictured. 



Chronicling those who served our country can be a difficult task. While at times, there may be a great amount of history recorded for an individual, other times, only a blank appears. In this series, my goal is to fill in that blank as much as possible. 

Francis Heidt
While many of the soldiers whose photos I go through have little information given about them, there are a few that have good deal written about them. Francis Heidt is one of those latter cases. As with many whom he was photographed with, much of his life remains a mystery. 

Born in Mandan around 1920, the son of Russian immigrants, he would finish his schooling in his home town, and be employed as a telegraphy boy. But as World War II waged on, Heidt, along with his older brother John, would enlist with the Army National Guard in 1941. 

Assigned to the 188th Field Artillery Regiment, Heidt would quickly be deployed. A quick westward march, Heidt would be stationed in Washington State, at the end of the Olympia Peninsula. 

While not told their mission, the member of the 188th assumed that a Japanese naval and air attack would soon occur on the strait, and they were there to protect the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

As no attack occurred, Heidt and the 188th would find themselves in one of the most memorable battles during World War II. On June 11 and 13, 1944, they entered Normandy, France, to participate in the D-Day offensive that had begun a week earlier. 



Often finding itself on the front lines, the 188th would have to adopt infantry methods of fighting. Moving across the continent, they would face action in the battle of Belgium, where they captured 258 enemy soldiers. However, the darkest part of their history would be at the Battle of the Bulge. The fighting would rage for several days, but the 188th would emerge with an impressive record. 

In just one day, on 80 different missions, the 188th would pour through their guns 2,430 rounds of 96-pound shells. It would exceed any previous record by 1,100 rounds. 

The 188th would fight against the Nazis in five foreign countries. After V-E Day, Heidt, among his fellow North Dakotans became eligible to return home. While he was able to seek immediate discharge, Heidt would remain with the 188th for almost another decade, as a Warrent Officer. 

Exiting the military life, Heidt would bounce around a bit. Joining the Northern Pacific Railway, as a caller, Heidt would make his way to Glendive, Montana, and eventually, continuing west, settle in at Spokane Washington. 

Heidt passed away on July 28, 2001. 

Matt Hoffman

Matt Hoffman
Private First Class Matt Hoffman was the first photo drawn from the stack of photos. Born in 1908, in Russia, his family would soon relocate to the United States. Immigrating to North Dakota, the family would settle in rural Morton County, where Hoffman would consider his home. 

Completing school in Mandan, Hoffman eventually be employed first by the local lumberyard, and later as a chauffeur and driver.

On Nov. 26, 1932, Hoffman would marry for the first time, to Marguerite Ball, at Terry, Prairie, Montana. It would be a marriage that was short lived.

On April 1, 1941, Hoffman would enlist with 188th Field Artillery Regiment of the U.S. Army National Guard, along with Francis Heidt. As fighting finished in Europe though, Heidt would return to the states, where he would meet his future wife, Gladys Hoffman. 



In 1951, the family would move to Moorhead, Minnesota, where Hoffman would send the next two decades of his life. He passed away in November of 1972. 

Paul Stolberg

Paul Stolberg
For this individual, little could be found. I believe his name was Paul Stolberg. He would have been around 18-19 when he enlisted at Fort Snelling, in Minnesota.

He found himself in the regular army, and for three years, he worked as a sheet metal worker. 

After serving during WWII, Paul largely vanishes from the record. It is possible he moved to the west coast, and raised a family, but exact details are fuzzy.