From the small border town of Neche, North Dakota, to the battlefields of the Pacific, a hero’s legacy was forged.
Henry Gurke was born November 6, 1922, to Julius and Hulda Gurke in Neche, where he spent most of his brief life. Remembered for his athleticism and basketball skills, Henry went on after high school to serve in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Henry later enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Assigned to the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion, Henry was deployed to the Solomon Islands during the early days of World War II. On November 9, 1943, U.S. forces at Guadalcanal’s Empress Augusta Bay faced a determined Japanese assault. PFC Gurke and PFC Donald Probst shared a shallow foxhole with automatic weapons when a grenade landed inside. Without hesitation, Gurke threw himself on the grenade, absorbing the blast and saving Probst, whose weapon was vital to the defense. Gurke was killed instantly, but his sacrifice enabled his fellow Marines to repel the attack.
Already a Purple Heart recipient for an earlier wound, Gurke was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor—the first North Dakotan so honored in World War II. On May 2, 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented the medal to his mother, Hulda Gurke.

Henry’s memory lived on not only in his hometown but also at sea. On July 1, 1944, the keel was laid for a new U.S. Navy destroyer, christened USS Gurke in his honor the following year. The ship went on to serve in the Pacific, participated in the occupation of Japan, fought at Inchon during the Korean War, and later saw combat in Vietnam before being decommissioned in 1976.
In recognition of his enduring sacrifice, the North Dakota Legislature has further honored him by naming Highway 18 from the Canadian border to its junction the PFC Henry Gurke Memorial Highway, effective August 1, 2025.

Today, the people of Neche, and North Dakotans at large, remember Henry Gurke with immense pride. His story stands as a lasting testament to courage, patriotism, and the ultimate sacrifice made in defense of others.