Opinion : Honoring the soldiers who inspired Iowa's quilt makers

I had never heard of Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Arnold until last Saturday.

But when I saw that he died in Iraq on my 40th birthday, I just had to know more.

This is his story.

I know about Daniel Arnold only because Betty Nielsen came to Vinton to tell the Quilting Ladies of Bethlehem Lutheran Church about her Freedom Quilt program. She and her husband and their team of volunteers have given thousands of quilts to the victims of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Iowa Flood of 2008, and the families of soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq this decade.

Betty received permission from the families of soldiers honored in quilts she has just finished to display them in Vinton.

Sgt. Arnold’s quilt was one of them.

The first thing I noticed on the quilt was the date of his death in Iraq: Sept. 28, 2005. My fortieth birthday.

After I saw that, I just had to find out more about who Sgt. Arnold was, where he lived and how and where he died.

It took a little time and Google for me to find out, and the more I learned the more I knew I wanted to share a part of his story with you.

On Sept. 28, Sgt. Arnold was riding in a Bradley Fighing Vehicle near Ramidi. He was with four other men:

PFC Oliver J. Brown, 19;

Spec. Lee A. Wiegand, 20;

Sgt Eric W. Slebodnik, 21;

Sgt. First Class George A. Pugliese, 39

 

The five members of the Pennsylvania 109th Infantry Regiment were providing protection was coalition forces tried to rebuilt a railroad bridge – part of the vast rebuilding of Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in the spring of 2003.

 

Their Bradley ran over an IED, which exploded. Insurgents hiding nearby opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and other small-arms fire. The vehicle burst into flames; all five died there very quickly.

 

Sgt. Pugliese turned 39 on Sept. 18. The next day, he was present when another member of that unit, Army Spec. William L. Evans, died in IED explosion. Another member of their unit, SSG Ryan Scott Ostrom, had died in August of 2005.

 

The 109th is based in Scranton, in northeast Pennsylvania. The five men who died on my birthday were very much like the Iowa National Guard soldiers I have met. They left behind jobs and families – some of them had young children – to serve our country. They lived in small towns and were well-respected as both civilians and soldiers. Memorials in a city park honor some of those members of the 109th. They are also honored in several Internet tribute pages.

 

Sergeant Arnold’s quilt was just one of approximately one dozen that were on display here in Vinton. It was an honor for me to see those quilts before the family members for whom they were made had the chance to hold them in their hands.

So if you get a chance to see Betty Nielsen in person, go. Listen to her story. And then look at the quilts. Remember the names of the soldiers who died serving our country. And then go find their stories, too.

 

To see one of those tributes to the members of the 109th who died on my birthday, click HERE.

 

To learn more about Betty Nielsen and Freeom Quilts, click Here.