For Dennis Clemenson, Mike Liapis and Dave Sjostrom of Bemidji, memories of fallen comrades are vivid. A recent visit to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., only rekindled those flashbacks.
Theodore (Ted) Midtaune, 83, of Livermore, California, passed away on the evening of September 23, 2022, in his home with family at his side. Ted was born on January 12, 1939, in Faribault, Minnesota, the first child of Theodore and Harriett (Jacobson) Midtaune. He graduated from Trimont High School in Trimont, MN, where he was a talented, multisport athlete. Ted married Merry Carol Sprink in 1960 in Arco, MN. Soon after, he enlisted in the United States Army, serving several years in the Army Security Agency, including a deployment in Ankara, Turkey. He made lifelong friendships during his time in the Army, and he was proud to have served his country. After his military service, Ted returned to northern Minnesota and graduated from Bemidji State University in Bemidji, MN, with a degree in biology. After college, he worked for the Department of Natural Resources in Bemidji. In 1983, Ted moved his small family to California for a job at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he wo