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In Memory of U.S. Army First Lieutenant

Arvid Palmer Thormodsgard

Alcester, South Dakota, Union County

March 7, 1947 – March 4, 1971

Killed in Action in Vietnam

   

Arvid Palmer Thormodsgard was born in Hudson, South Dakota, on March 7, 1947, to Palmer and Ardis (Stene) Thormodsgard. He had three brothers: Gaylord, Paul, and Lynn. Arvid graduated from Alcester High School on May 25, 1965. He then went on to the University of South Dakota in Vermillion in the ROTC program. He was commissioned an Army officer upon graduation on May 25, 1969, after which he was employed with the Arthur Young C.P.A. Firm in Kansas City, Missouri until he entered the army.

On January 21, 1970, Arvid Thormodsgard entered the service at Fort Benning, Georgia. Then on December 23, 1970, Arvid was sent to South Vietnam. He was stationed at Chu Lai where he served as the rifle platoon leader in Company D, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 23rd Infantry (Americal) Division.

U.S. Army First Lieutenant Arvid Palmer Thormodsgard was killed in action in the Republic of Vietnam on March 4, 1971. His parents were notified of his death by members of the ROTC unit at Vermillion. Arvid’s body was returned to the United States and buried at the Lands Lutheran Church cemetery in Hudson with full military honors.

Arvid is survived by his mother, Ardis, Beresford, South Dakota, and his brothers, Gaylord, Plymouth, Minnesota; Lynn, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Paul, Green Bay, Wisconsin.  In the mid-1990s, several surviving members of Arvid’s platoon visited Ardis and gave her more details about her son’s death, which meant a lot to her and the rest of the Thormodsgard family, according to Gaylord, Arvid’s brother.

This entry was respectfully submitted by Brett Huber, 8th grade, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, on March 28, 2006. Information for this entry was provided by a South Dakota Vietnam’s bonus application and the Alcester Union newspaper, March 18, 1971, issue. Additional information and profile approval by Gaylord Thormodsgard.