Herman Fredrick "Sparky" Gierke III (born March 13, 1943 in Williston, North Dakota) was a Justice on the North Dakota Supreme Court from 1983 to 1991.
He earned his bachelor of arts and juris doctor degrees from the University of North Dakota. From there, he went on to serve in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate's General Corps between 1967 and 1971. This included a year as a military judge in the Republic of Vietnam. During his Army service, he was awarded the Vietnam Service and Campaign medals, the Bronze Star and Air Medal.
After a decade of private practice, he was elected president of the North Dakota Blue Star Bar Association, where he served in 1982 and 1983. In 1983, North Dakota Gov. Allen Olson appointed him as Justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court. He was re-elected in 1984 and for a 10-year term in 1986.[1]
On September 8, 1988 [2] Gierke was the first Vietnam veteran elected to serve as National Commander of the American Legion.[3]
In 1991, Gierke resigned from the North Dakota Supreme court when President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF). On October 1, 2004, Gierke assumed the duties of Chief Judge of the CAAF.[3]
In addition to his judicial experience, Gierke has served as an educator at multiple law schools. During his time on the bench of the CAAF, he was an award winning professor at two Washington D.C. area law schools: George Washington University and The Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America. In 2002 and 2004 he was honored as the Best Adjunct Faculty Member at The Columbus School of Law. He then moved to Florida where he was a visiting professor, distinguished jurist, and adjunct instructor at the Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law of Barry University from 1998 to 2008. He is currently a distinguished judicial lecturer at the Florida A&M University College of Law.
Gierke currently lives with his wife in Orlando, Florida.