NOLTE 36Finding records. Preserving stories.Connecting families. Sharing stories.
Events & Press
Follow Nolte 36 gatherings, book events, and media coverage as we share the stories of service and help families preserve their own.
What's ahead
Upcoming Events & Press
Join us for opportunities to connect with the Nolte 36 story and follow the mission as it reaches new audiences.
They All Came Home
The Nolte Thirty-Six
By Paul H. Wessel
Thirty-six members of one extended family served in World War II. All thirty-six came home.
- Date
- Saturday, November 14, 2026
- Location
- Fairmont American Legion
Fairmont, Minnesota
Program
- 1:30–2:30 PMRegistration & Mingling
- 2:30–3:30 PMAuthor’s Remarks
- 3:30–5:00 PMBook Signing & Social Hour
- 6:30 PMAfter Party
Best Western · Fairmont, MN
More Stories to Share
Upcoming interviews, features, and media appearances will be shared here as details become available.
Watch this space for announcements.
The story continues
Past Events & Press
A place to revisit gatherings and explore the coverage that helps keep these service stories alive.
Moments Worth Remembering
Event recaps, photographs, and highlights will be collected here, creating a record of the people and communities connected by the Nolte 36 story.
Past event highlights coming soon.
May 21, 1946 · Minneapolis Star-Journal
“From One Family Tree: 36 Nolte Cousins Served in War; Two Wounded”
From the family archive: newspaper coverage documenting the remarkable wartime service of the Nolte cousins.
Explore the family story →Behind every record is a life
Help Keep Their Stories Alive
Nolte 36 helps families find, request, and understand surviving military service records so that every veteran’s story can be recovered and told.
They All Came Home
An American Family Answers the Call
As America nears its 250th birthday, this story offers a way to remember who we are and the sacrifices that brought us here. Join us in telling this amazing story, now in production.
One Family.
36 Cousins.
Countless Stories.
Carl Fredrick Conrad Nolte
From this man would come the 36 Nolte cousins who answered the call in America’s hour of need.
They All Came Home tells the remarkable true story of the Nolte family, rooted in Fairmont, Minnesota. An ordinary rural family that sent thirty-six cousins to serve in World War II.
They served as soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics, engineers, and support personnel across the Army, Navy, Air Corps, and Marines.
Every one of them came home alive.
Minneapolis Star-Journal, May 21, 1946
"From One Family Tree: 36 Nolte Cousins Served in War; Two Wounded"
What an incredible story this is…And this isn’t just about thirty-six men surviving World War II—it’s about generations connected through faith, family, place, and values passed down without fanfare.
That’s what makes it so remarkable.
- NYT Best Selling Author Don Mann
Martin Louis Nolte - An Army Veteran served from 1942-1945
USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) - Where V.A. Nolte had served - after being struck by a kamikaze
Vern Nolte - A Navy Pilot in WWII
From the flight decks of Navy carriers to the fields of Europe, from engineering units, intel collection, to medical corps, the 36 cousins served wherever duty called.
A Book That Preserves A Living Legacy
This book preserves one family's story so future generations can understand the meaning of service, citizenship, and sacrifice in a free society.
Preserving the Nolte Legacy
We aim to record, honor, and elevate the Nolte family's contributions at the county, state, and national level. Ensuring their story is not lost to time, but shared as a touchstone of American character.
Reconnecting Younger Generations
Younger Americans are actively searching for identity. They All Came Home offers a pathway back to heritage, showing that patriotism can be rooted in lineage, humanity, and real, lived history rather than slogans.
A Story That Can Grow
The book is the starting point for a broader legacy: potential educational content for America's 250th, museum or installation concepts, streaming series, and materials that civic and military institutions can use to inspire the next generation of American patriots.
