Four who served accept quilts

On the brink of the calendar turning to Veterans Day, the Red, White and Blue Quilt Guild held a program Saturday morning at The Gathering Place in Greenfield, gifting four area veterans with handmade quilts as a token of appreciation for their service.

Each November, the group presents quilts to three pre-selected veterans and another who is in attendance at the program.

Recipients this year were Eugene Hardisty, Oliver Sorensen, Dennis Johnson and Timmie Lee Schultz.

Hardisty

Hardisty enlisted in the Air Force right after finishing high school in Prescott and attending business school for a semester. After basic training, electronics training, radio relay equipment training, he was assigned to Fuchu Air Force Base in Tokyo, Japan, where he would eventually be named workload controller, managing paperwork for the electrical maintenance shops.

Due to over-assignment of radio relay repairmen, he volunteered to be reassigned stateside. He was successful in detecting and repairing a problem with detecting friendly aircraft codes at North Truro Air Force Base on Cape Cod.

Hardisty, a sergeant, received orders in the spring of 1971 for Vietnam. While there, he served as the temporary NCOIC of maintenance at Cam Rhan Bay while barracks and associated equipment were being relocated. During this time, the bomb dump was hit by zappers and the radar site was damaged beyond repair. Hardisty helped oversee some of the work to replace the radar site before he was one of six determined to return to the states after the Air Force decided it had too many radar techs.

In August 1972, Hardisty applied for early discharge to attend college and received it. Five years later, he enlisted for one year in the Iowa Air National Guard, where he an electronic countermeasures technician and later transferred to the munitions shop as a weapons release technician. He would later become a disaster preparedness technician.

Hardisty received many medals and awards for his service. In retirement from the military, he has served his community in numerous ways, from food pantries to the Iowa Aviation Museum and as a volunteer driver for Adair County Veterans Affairs.

Sorensen

Oliver and Mardelle were married, living in Des Moines, and during this time, he was working at Look Magazine, studying electronics. In September 1958, he enlisted in the 103rd Signal Company of the Army Reserves, based out of Fort Des Moines.

The Army had other ideas and he began training in heavy weapons. He went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic training. During his fifth week there, he was honored as qualifying on an M1 rifle as a firing expert, tying for first out of 256 other men. After basics, he went to Fort Ord and Camp Roberts in California.

Oliver came back home in March 1960. The next year, the Army called and gave him 24 hours to prepare to go to North Korea, but he never ended up having to go. Instead, he went for two weeks each year to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin for training.

Returning to Iowa in 1961, Mardelle and Oliver moved to the family farm 8 miles north of Bridgewater. In 1965, Oliver was honorably discharged from the Army Reserves. The couple continued to farm until they retired in 1999 and moved into Bridgewater.

Johnson

Dennis Johnson entered the Navy in 1965, serving his basic training in San Diego. He was assigned to electronic tech school at the Great Lakes Training Center. Next, he went to Jacksonville, Florida, to Cecil Field. A year later he was assigned to Yakuska Bay, Japan, and joined a Fleet Flag ship aboard with the Fleet Admiral. The flag ship was always accompanied by cruisers for protection. They routinely entered the mouths of Vietnam rivers and shot shells in at North Vienamese positions. One mission resulted in being hung up on a sandbar. Seeing the ship in trouble, the North Vietnamese started launching shells at the flag ship. U.S. bombers were called in to put a stop to it all. There was never any danger. It seemed like a training exercise. Two ocean-going tugs were sent to dislodge the ship and of course the admiral’s career was over. It was disappointing to the whole crew because there was a certain amount of pride in serving in a fleet admiral’s ship.

Dennis returned to the states and finished his Navy time in California. Dennis loved the service and feels it was one of the best experiences in his life. Beyond his service in the Navy, he has served in the Legion at countless funerals, school programs, football games, parades and fundraisers. Time given to serve fellow veterans and give that sense of pride in being an American.

Schultz

Timmie Schultz began his military journey February 15, 1977, when he raised his right hand, taking the oath to serve his country. His first stop was Fort Bliss, Texas, where he completed basic training and Advanced Individual Training with the 88th Battalion. It was there that he learned discipline, teamwork and foundations that guided him through his military career.

After training, Schultz was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia to attend jump school — an experience that tested his courage and endurance. The thrill of jumping out of a plane never truly left him. From there, he returned home to Greenfield, where he was a hometown recruiter, helping to inspire and guide others considering a life of service.

Before long, Schultz was back at Fort Benning, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. His job was demanding and complex, serving as a redeye gunner and vulcan gunner, responsible for air defense operations the required precision and focus. The work was challenging, but it gave him a deep sense of pride and purpose.

During his second tour, he was stationed at Fort Lee, Virginia, where he trained as a parachute rigger — a role that carried great responsibility. Every parachute that he packed represented a soldier’s trust and safety. Later, he returned once again to Fort Benning, working in the pack shed under Colonel Scott. It was there that he was selected to join the Pathfinder Branch, a unit known for skill and precision in leading the way for others.

Schultz completed his serviec Dec. 6, 1985, closing a chapter filled with discipline, challenge and brotherhood. Looking back, he said his time in the Army taught him more than he ever expected about leadership, teamwork and himself.