SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The nonprofit organization Nation of Patriots tours the country with the goal of supporting veterans who are in need. Their unique fundraising effort reached Sioux Falls Sunday with a special ceremony.

The annual “Patriot Tour” brings an American flag across all fifty states in just 115 days, mostly by motorcycle. The flag has always either formerly been flown in a military operation or over the White House. Flag bearers are responsible for honoring and protecting the flag as they travel through their state and are relieved of their duties after they pass it to the next flag bearer in the next state in a ceremony. As they unite to honor members of the armed forces, they take in donations to be directly given to veterans who need help financially.

The South Dakota chapter received the tour flag Sunday from the Nebraska chapter at Veterans Memorial Park in Sioux Falls. For veterans like the Regional Manager Kevin Stoterau, who served in both the Navy and Army for 38 years, it’s an honor to help those who also served our country, whom he considers to be brothers and sisters.

“Me being a career military and a disabled veteran, I mean, I get nothing,” said Stoterau. “I’m not in financial crisis. Everything, the gas, the hotels and whatnot, I pay for out of pocket and I can. But to me helping a fellow veteran is extremely important.”

Stoterau’s spouse, Dawn Ackerman Stoterau, takes pride in being the flag bearer for this stretch of the tour.

“It means everything,” Ackerman Stoterau described. “I’m an incredibly proud American and I don’t care what side of the aisle you are, what your political views are, we all have one common factor and it’s this flag and the men and women who fought for it and continue to fight for it.”

Though she didn’t serve in the military, she’s seen the special bond veterans have with one another firsthand and been welcomed into the family. Giving to brothers and sisters with shared experiences is a cause worth the mission.

“It’s something unlike anything you’ll see anywhere else,” Ackerman Stoterau explained. “It’s a privilege to be included in that and the stories I’ve heard about different conflicts, wars from all of these veterans, it makes you cry, it makes you laugh and it makes you prouder than you ever thought you could be.”

“Being in the military, one thing it taught me [was] all family does not have to be blood,” Stoterau recalled. “It’s a family-orientated thing. You learn you have a lot more family than you ever knew.”

Stoterau said that what makes the Nation of Patriots special is that they can make sure that the money makes it to the intended recipients in the donor’s state. While there are many great nonprofit organizations that help veterans, the Nation of Patriots is volunteer-led and every penny donated goes directly to a veteran’s family that has been vetted, cutting past operating costs.

“It is an extremely worthy cause. It’s transparent. I’m not putting any other organization down. There are plenty of organizations out there that you see advertisements for, but not all of the money that gets donated goes to a veteran. A lot of them have overhead expenses, they have employees.”

Donations can be made in person at each stop of the tour or can be made on their website. If you are a veteran in need of financial assistance, a grant application can be found here.

The flag will make its next stop in Watertown at VFW Post 750 on Tuesday. From there, Army veteran Tim Simonton will be the flag bearer until it gets handed off to the North Dakota chapter in West Fargo. The tour ends in the state where it started and this year’s tour started in Kansas.

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BORDULAC, N.D. — An early morning train derailment on the east edge of Bordulac on Friday, July 5, led to 29 cars leaving the tracks and igniting a large fire at the site.

At approximately 3:53 a.m. Friday, first responders from Carrington Fire and Rescue and CHI Carrington EMS were dispatched to Second Street Southeast and 75th Avenue Southeast for a hazardous materials incident near Lake George just outside Bordulac.

Ten to 15 cars were reported to have caught on fire, with an estimate of 25 to 30 cars leaving the tracks upon initial inspection. The train was traveling east through Bordulac when the derailment occurred.

No injuries were reported from the accident, though EMS was on scene to provide backup for any fire or hazmat team personnel working to extinguish the fire and clean up and clear the site.

Heavy rains that came through the Carrington area the previous day may have been the culprit for the derailment. At the site of the incident, a culvert partially washed out, compromising the railroad bed. Though much of the estimated 145-car train passed through Bordulac without issues, the tail end of the train derailed.

County Road 1613, locally known as the Bordulac Highway, was closed to traffic, along with portions of Highway 200, during the early morning hours of July 5 as county and state officials worked to keep persons away from the area. The town of Bordulac was under mandatory evacuation, as well as one rural residence approximately 1/2 mile from the scene.

The fire burned for the remainder of the morning and much of the afternoon, continuing into Saturday and Sunday while CF&R worked around the clock to contain it.

According to Stutsman County Emergency Manager Andrew Kirking, working as Foster County’s interim emergency manager, primary goals set forth at an incident command meeting the afternoon of the derailment were threefold: to preserve the lives and safety of residents and responders, stabilize the incident and minimize environmental impact.

Along with extinguishing and cooling the rail cars, tactical objectives included removing as much material as possible from the cars and preparing the site for heavy equipment to remove them.

Kirking said that since the area is wet, boggy and marshy, timbers were used to stabilize the scene for responders to better combat the blaze and engage in cleanup operations.

“We just needed to get our ducks in a row before we attack it,” Kirking said that morning.

He reported at the initial meeting later on Friday that two pumping trailers doused the derailed cars “with success.”

“Quenching the fires has had an effect on the plume, slightly lightening its color from black to gray,” said Kirking, noting the smoke color change meant fewer materials actively burning and more steam released into the air. As a result, he said, the plume lost upward development, and air, soil and water monitoring continues with no life safety risks.

At 4 p.m. on Friday, NDResponse issued a Temporary Flight Restriction for one nautical mile surrounding the derailment site and 1,000 feet above the site and below. Operation of all aircraft, including drones, was prohibited with the exception of emergency services-approved aircraft effective for 48 hours, until 4 p.m. Sunday, July 7.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, which arrived on scene Saturday, the contents of the derailed cars involved methanol, anhydrous ammonia and plastic pellets. Kirking said the burning pellets contributed to the black smoke early in the crash. NTSB has been at the site, along with officials from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Saturday morning updates revealed that firefighting operations throughout the night and morning were incredibly successful, according to Kirking, and much of the fire had been extinguished by that time, with occasional flare-ups. Later that evening, recovery efforts for the rail cars began.

Because the cars still have products inside them, Kirking said that each unit must be individually evaluated, relocated and emptied of as much material as possible before final removal can occur.

“The situation is being closely monitored by environmental specialists to ensure as little product as possible is lost,” he said.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway has developed an in-depth and procedural recovery plan, and local responders have been briefed on the plan’s specifics and were still on-site as of Sunday afternoon and beyond for anything that may arise.

He reassured residents on Saturday that readings from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality regarding air contamination in the area were effectively near zero, and that remote monitoring downwind also showed no contamination.

On Sunday, however, Kirking said air monitors detected low levels of anhydrous ammonia after one rail car began venting during removal from the site. For precautionary purposes, Bordulac-area residents were subject to a shelter-in-place notice, which has since been lifted.

Kirking concluded, “I would like to commend the efforts of responders, state and federal partners, the selfless aid of mutual aid partners, and the community commitment of Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway for their prompt and proportional response.”

Bordulac is a town of 18 people about 40 miles north of Jamestown.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) of North Dakota wants you to know about the state’s online portal resource for expectant mothers and families. CWA of North Dakota leaders and pro-life legislators worked together in the last legislative session to see the North Dakota Health and Human Services develop the life.nd.gov website, which links users to the “Welcome to North Dakota’s Pregnancy and Parenting” portal.

CWA’s CEO and President, Penny Nance, has been encouraging the creation of an online portal at the federal and state level to help mothers and families in need find the resources of pregnancy help centers, adoption services, and other available pregnancy and parenting services. With our state’s  life.nd.gov website, North Dakota provides compassionate care and life-giving support to assist mothers and their babies, and resources are available to them.

To help spread the word about the website, North Dakota Health and Human Services developed a postcard, “Life ND Helps New Parents Take Their First Steps.”

Let’s join them in spreading the word; forward this message to your friends and family today!