RAPID CITY, S.D. – In 28 years of being Timothy Bjork's best friend, travel buddy and devoted wife, Bonnie Bjork said there was one topic that her "Tim" was reluctant to talk about.
His two tours of duty in the Vietnam War.
Tim died in March 2025 at age 77 from multiple cancers tied to his military service. so Bonnie said she can't be 100% certain why he didn't discuss the war.
But she knew him well and suspects it was because that while Tim was proud of his service and the important non-combat medical supply duties he performed, he was also somewhat bitter.
He was put off, Bonnie believes, because he was compelled to serve by the draft in an unpopular war that was horrific for both sides.
It bothered him that he was so disrespected by his fellow Americans that he had to change out of his Army uniform and into civilian clothes to avoid harassment at airports when he arrived home from war.
And – perhaps most of all – Tim came to realize that his service in Cam Ranh Bay and Phu Bai Combat Base exposed him to the carcinogenic defoliant Agent Orange, which would cast a constant shadow over his health and ultimately take his life.
"There was some anger in there, and he felt guilty about some of the things that we did to people over there," Bonnie said. "He was very reluctant, and he didn't talk much about Vietnam until recent years, but I think he accepted the way things are and that you can't go back and change the past."
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And yet, Tim – who didn't wear Vietnam emblems or hats or walk in Memorial Day parades – quietly supported his fellow veterans and support organizations. He spoke frequently with other sick soldiers he met at the VA hospital in Sturgis to soothe them. He attended Vietnam memorial events in Pierre and the nation's capital. And he gave money and time to the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans.
Decades after the war, Bonnie said Tim underwent a shift and began to open up more about the war and became more accepting of any appreciation he received for his service in Vietnam.
"I think he would appreciate being recognized, but he would also want me to promote other people to be recognized in the same way," Bonnie said. "He felt like he was part of a group, and that all the people in that group need to be recognized."
2 memorial events to honor Vietnam veterans
With that sentiment in mind, Bonnie said she believes Tim would welcome two posthumous forms of recognition he and other South Dakota veterans of Vietnam will receive in June.
Vietnam wall replica in Brookings
From June 11-14, Tim and a few dozen other South Dakota veterans will be feted in Brookings when "The Wall that Heals" arrives to honor veterans killed in Vietnam and those who served there and have died since.
The healing wall is a three-quarter sized replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall that contains the names of fallen service members in Washington.
Bart Pfankuch
The traveling wall is 375 feet long and nearly 8 feet high and will be accompanied by a mobile education center that will be open to the public 24 hours a day from Thursday, June 11, through 2 p.m. Sunday, June 14, at the Fishback Soccer Complex, 1100 20th St. S. in Brookings.
In Memory ceremony
Then, on June 20, Tim and two other late residents of South Dakota will be among 768 Vietnam veterans who will be formally inducted into the "In Memory" program run by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) at a ceremony in Washington.
The program has provided recognition for more than 8,300 veterans who died due to medical conditions suffered after returning home from the war.
Many of those honored died from conditions related to Agent Orange, a defoliant used in Vietnam until 1971 and which an estimated 2.6 million to 3.8 million U.S. service members suffered exposure. The Veterans Administration determined that roughly 20 major illnesses, including cancers and heart disease, were caused by the compound.
The names of the new honorees, including the three veterans from South Dakota, will be read aloud starting at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on June 20 in a ceremony on the East Knoll of the wall memorial. The ceremony will be shown live on the VVMF website.
“For many Vietnam veterans, coming home from Vietnam was just the beginning of a whole new fight," Jim Knotts, president and CEO of the VVMF, said in a news release. "Many never fully recovered, either physically or emotionally, from their experiences. As these veterans pass, it is our duty and solemn promise to welcome them home to the place that our nation has set aside to remember our Vietnam veterans."
As part of the recognition, In Memory veterans are also given an individual memorial page on the VVMF website, which is already accessible to the public for the 2026 honorees.
In Memory honorees
Here are the three 2026 South Dakota In Memory honorees and links to their personal information pages on the memorial website:
Timothy M. Bjork, of Rapid City. Born May 4, 1947, and died March 3, 2025. Worked for former South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources and for South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation. Due to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Bjork died of metastatic skin cancer.
Theodore G. Knudsen, of Rosholt. Born Jan. 10, 1948, and died July 25, 2024. Served in Army in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star with “V”, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and Parachutist Badge. Knudson worked as an administrator and coach in five school districts, including in Gregory, Wessington and Bowdle. He suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam and died of dementia.
Gregory J. Overholt of Piedmont. Born March 21, 1948, and died July 17, 2025. Overholt served in the Army in Vietnam. He worked as a military recruiter and later retired as a corrections administrator at the Pennington County Sheriff's Office. No cause of death was listed.
Anyone interested in nominating a veteran for the In Memory program can visit this website to learn the details.
Overcoming a variety of health hurdles
Visitors to the In Memory web page for Tim Bjork will learn much about his service, his life, his family and the laborious but mostly successful battle he fought against myriad illnesses related to his service in Vietnam.
Tim had a heart attack at age 33 and later obtained a heart transplant in 2006, which helped him thrive for nearly 20 more years. He suffered from other cancers that attacked his skin, an area above his eye and his lungs.
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After numerous visitors to VA hospitals in Sturgis and Rapid City and to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Bonnie said she and Tim were able to live a very full life filled with career accomplishments, volunteerism, travel, outdoor activities and many moments of joy.
Both Bonnie and Tim worked for years in state government, where Bonnie served as commissioner of economic development and in Medicaid administration. Tim worked in pollution control within the former Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Later, he served as executive director of the South Dakota Parks & Wildlife Foundation, where he helped establish the Mickelson Trail and the Outdoor Campus West, Bonnie said.
Angler, hunter and traveling companion
One unexpected benefit of Tim's time in Vietnam was that he met a soldier from Idaho who shared hunting and fishing magazines that kicked off Tim's lifelong love of outdoor recreation and environmental protectionism.
Tim was active in civic and environmental organizations, including Rotary, LifeSource organ donation, Ducks Unlimited and the South Dakota Water Management Board. He also took part in local fly fishing and fly-tying clubs and held fishing licenses in six states at one point.
Tim had a daughter, Kimberly Nightser Rensch, and four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
On Sunday, May 24, the day before Memorial Day, Bonnie planned to honor Tim and other veterans by upholding a family tradition of placing flags on graves at the Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, including in Section S, where Tim is buried.
She said she will visit the healing wall when it is in Brookings and travel to Washington with Tim's sister to attend the In Memory honor event in June.
During a recent interview with News Watch, Bonnie was asked what she will miss most about her beloved Tim.
Fighting back tears, Bonnie replied: "It's the companionship because we did a lot of things together. He was the guy that would say, 'OK, it's a beautiful day. Let's go up to Pactola (Reservoir),' and he would fish and I would take a little hike or sit by a stream and read a book. And we'd always ask each other, 'Where is our next trip going to be?'"
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, donate and subscribe for free at sdnewswatch.org. Contact content director Bart Pfankuch: 605-937-9398/bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.
