To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the South Dakota Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in South Dakota, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 1/19/12 • Approved: 1/19/12 • Last Updated: 8/13/15 • R146847-G0-S3
PFC US ARMY WORLD WAR II
JUNE 26, 1923--JULY 14, 1982
Nels Braaten was born June 26, 1923 in Plato, Saskatchewan, Canada to Ole Nilssen Braaten and Anna Marie Holdal Braaten who had emigrated from Norway. They later moved to the United States and settled in Canton, South Dakota and the family grew with a younger brother John Ivan and sister Gladys Bernice.
Nels attended school in Canton and graduated from Canton High School. He served in the United States Army during WWII and was a proud member of the 99th Infantry Battalion Separate which was a unit made up entirely of men of Norwegian descent who spoke Norwegian fluently. They were trained to invade Norway and liberate their home country from the Germans.
Upon his return from military service he married Bernice Marie Kaskie on August 15, 1948 and they had three sons; Larry, Alan & Bruce. During his life Nels did many different types of construction work and operated heavy equipment.
He died on July 14, 1982 at the VA Medical Center located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Contributed on 1/19/12 by bjbraaten
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 146847