Soldiers named for Freedom Quilts April 4th Event
The seven soldiers being honored in Saturday, April 4th's 2015 Freedom Quilts event are:
Petty Officer First Class Joseph Adam McSween was born August 11, 1980 and died April 6, 2007. McSween died from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq when a rocket hit his vehicle.
CPL Dane Freedman PTSD was born September 13, 1988 and died December 13, 2013. Dane served in the Marine Corp as a machine gunner from 2007 -2011. Upon return, Freedman had a long, hard battle with PTSD.
Navy Seal Thomas Retzer was born March 10, 1973 and died June 25, 2003. Retzer was wounded on June 25, 2003 after his convoy was attacked outside of Gardez, Afghanistan. He was transported to Bagram Air Base Hospital where he died of his wounds on June 26, 2003.
Sgt Daniel Sesker was born in 1983 and was died April 6, 2006. Daniel was manning a gun when insurgent forces detonated an improvised explosive device near Bayji, Iraq.
PFC Jacob Henry Wykstra was born July 14, 1992 and died May 28, 2014 in the Kandahar province Afghanistan of injuries sustained in an aircraft accident.
Major Jeffrey Warstler was born August 1, 1974 and died October 5, 2013 following an extended illness. He first joined the Marines, then the Army. He served two tours of duty in Iraq. His last assignment before he fell ill was at the Pentagon.
SP4 Vernon Sullivan was born May 30, 1947 and died September 5, 2012. Vernon was drafted to Vietnam when he was only 18 years old, and he was not the same when he came back. Sullivan owned a bait shop and loved fishing.
The families will be accompanied by a police or sheriff escort and Legion riders from Storm Lake, LeMars and Spencer leaving from King's Pointe around 1:30 on Saturday, April 4th going to the Freedom Quilts shop in Fonda at 13637 550th street. The public is encouraged to wave flags along the route or ride motorcycles along with the Legion Riders to show support for these military families.
