North Dakota
80 years after his death, North Dakota World War II serviceman’s remains identified
FARGO — Relatives of a North Dakota serviceman who died as a prisoner of war in World War II finally have the answer they’ve waited so long to receive.
Skeletal remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Irvin C. Ellingson have been identified through new DNA technology at a forensic lab in Hawaii, 80 years after his death.
Lon Enerson, one of Ellingson’s nephews,
has led the family effort to bring his uncle’s remains home.
“We are overjoyed and relieved … It’s a long-overdue answered prayer,” Enerson told The Forum, from his home in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Contributed
Ellingson, who grew up in Dahlen, North Dakota, a tiny community east of Devils Lake, enlisted at age 22 and was 25 when he died, Enerson said.
He was serving as a radar observer on a bombing mission to Tokyo on April 14, 1945, when the plane was shot down.
Ellingson parachuted to safety but was captured by the Japanese army and held captive at a Japanese prison along with 61 other American service members.
The prison caught fire a little over a month later, on May 26, 1945, after high winds fueled fires that were started by an American B-29 bombing raid over Tokyo.
None of the American prisoners survived the fire, as they were blocked in by Japanese guards, Enerson said.
The remains of more than two dozen American service members were identified in the aftermath but those of 37 others were buried as “unknowns” at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, where they sat untouched until 2022.
Contributed / Ryan Earp
The remains are commingled, and the Department of Defense has a threshold for disinterment,
for at least 60%
of those veterans’ families to provide DNA samples in order to make matches.
Families pushed the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to disinter those unidentified remains and bring them to a forensic lab in Honolulu, where the newest DNA technology
is being used
to identify them.
Enerson said his uncle is the third serviceman from the Tokyo prison fire to be identified in this manner. The first identification came in September 2024 and the second in January of this year.
Ellingson’s parents and all of his siblings are deceased, so the next of kin is the oldest nephew or niece, who is Cheryl Severtson, of San Diego.
Contributed
Enerson is fourth on that list.
Six groups of Ellingson’s relatives have visited the forensic lab in Hawaii since 2022, awaiting his identification, Enerson said.
Now that they have answers, some family members may return to the lab to sit privately with Ellingson’s remains, which will be placed on an army blanket, he said.
The family intends to bury Ellingson’s remains in the Middle Forest River Cemetery in rural Dahlen, alongside his parents and other siblings.
Contributed / Lon Enerson
Enerson said when that day comes, he’s been told Ellingson will be buried with full military honors, at government expense.
“We just wish his immediate family could have known 80 years ago, but this is the next best time,” Enerson said.
HORACE, N.D. — A 64-year-old woman was found dead after a residential fire south of Horace on Tuesday evening, Dec. 9, according to a release from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said the homeowner returned shortly before 7 p.m. and found the house filled with smoke. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Southern Valley Fire & Rescue, the West Fargo Fire Department, the North Dakota Highway Patrol and Sanford Ambulance responded.
Fire crews contained the blaze, and most of the damage appeared to be inside the structure, the release said. The woman’s name has not been released.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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FARGO — Picture the classic Hallmark Christmas movie: light snow drifts over a festively decorated town square as a big-city protagonist returns to her charming, but small hometown, and, against all odds, discovers holiday romance.
For many, the Christmas season isn’t complete without watching one — or a few — of these feel-good films. This year, North Dakotans and country music lovers have an extra reason to get festive with these films as the country singing sister duo Tigirlily Gold made their Hallmark debut in one of the network’s newest holiday releases.
The Hazen, North Dakota natives Krista and Kendra Slaubaugh appeared in “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas,” which premiered Nov. 29 on The Hallmark Channel.
The film carries the familiar warmth of a Hallmark storyline, but instead of a hometown reunion and newfound love, this plot leans into time travel — where romance plays second fiddle to family.
The 1-hour, 24-minute movie follows Gentry Wade (Nikki DeLoach), the daughter of late country music icon Jett Wade (Rob Mayes). After a tragic accident 30 years prior, Gentry abandoned her songwriting dreams and distanced herself from her father’s legacy. When the Grand Ole Opry invites her to represent Jett at their Christmas centennial celebration, she’s hesitant to return to the place steeped in bittersweet memories.
Hallmark’s
description continues: “Encouraged by her good friends, Gentry visits the Opry and, while seated in one of the vaunted venue’s oak church pews, is suddenly transported to 1995. Gentry’s lifelong friend Mac (Kristoffer Polaha), a country music talent manager, finds himself in 1995 as well. Thanks to some Christmas magic, Gentry gets precious time with her father, creative inspiration to finish the song she began decades earlier as a teen and learns surprising answers to questions about her father that have followed her for the last three decades.”
Tigirlily Gold makes a cameo in a performance scene, singing their holiday single “Mistletoe Tipsy,” a country-styled Christmas tune that blends with the movie’s heartwarming, nostalgic tone.
Following the premiere of “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas,” the sisters were recognized as members of the 2025 Opry NextStage Class, alongside Dasha, Kashus Culpepper, Chayce Beckham, Avery Anna and Kaitlin Butts, as they took the stage Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Category 10 for the fifth annual “Opry NextStage Live.”
The sister duo’s cameo can be seen throughout the holiday season on the Hallmark Channel or streamed anytime on Hallmark+.
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