Any person elected or appointed to any position or office in this state, or in any political subdivision thereof, in which length of service is one of the qualifications necessary to election or appointment, must be given credit for service in the army of the United States between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1919, in the particular vocation, profession, or trade in which the person was engaged at the time of entering such service, if the person holds an honorable discharge from the military service of the United States and is recognized as a North Dakota soldier.
N.D.C.C. § 44-01-02