Dedication of two soldiers spans from Vietnam to LI

When Pat Moffett wrote the 2003 book "Fortunate Soldier" about his experiences serving in Vietnam, he crafted a simple inscription: "This book is dedicated to Arnold P. Sarna. I didn't forget."

Moffett, 63, never met Sarna, or even saw a photo of the man who died from rocket fire in Vietnam in 1968. But the Great Neck resident credits Sarna with indirectly saving his life.

Moffett was 21 when he landed in Vietnam in March 1968 with the Army's 101st Airborne Division. But a typo on official paperwork landed him on mortar duty, for which he had not been trained. When Moffett told his commander, the officer accidentally knocked over a cup of coffee on a stack of forms. Moffett, who could type 80 words a minute, retyped the forms in five minutes. The commander took note.

Moffett and his company were sent out to the field on reconnaissance, but several weeks later he was called back. They needed someone to fill the job of typing up the morning reports, he was told. His first assignment was to type up a card for a soldier who had been recently killed. Moffet was taking that soldier's job typing up official papers.

"That was the first time I ever heard the name Arnold Sarna," Moffett said. Sarna had been killed by rocket fire.

Weeks later, Moffet learned his former company had been overrun and everyone killed or wounded. His new job replacing Sarna may have saved his life.

Came back to U.S. in 1969

Moffett came home in 1969, and Sarna's spirit came with him. "Every time I did something, like when my first son was born, I've said I never would have experienced this if it wasn't for Arnold Sarna," he said. "All of these experiences of the last 41 years . . . may not have happened unless Arnold passed on. So I never forgot."

Moffett said he hesitated to try to find the Sarna family, not knowing how he would be received. When he wrote his book, he thought someone who knew Sarna would see the name and contact him. But that call never came.

Visits Vietnam Memorial

Moffett, who is a vice president at Audiovox Corp. in Hauppauge, visits Washington, D.C., several times a year on business. Each trip, he leaves time for a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Even if he has only a few minutes, he'll have a cab wait while he goes up to the spot where Sarna's name is engraved so he can touch the letters and say a prayer.

Three months ago, he made the visit with his friend Frank Viteritti, 60. A few weeks later, Viteritti told Moffett about virtualwall.org, which allows visitors to leave memories of the deceased. On that site, Moffett found a letter addressed to Sarna from Sarna's sister Debra Braden, who was 6 when her brother was killed.

"You've never left my heart even though I really only have 2 memories of you," she wrote. "One of them is you holding me up in the air and one of you coming through the back door, I think you were surprising us! Both times you were in your handsome uniform. I am filled with pride, love and longing when I think of you."

Braden wrote that she was searching for anyone who may have known her brother. Moffett tried to reach Braden, but the 2003 letter had a nonworking e-mail address. He searched for Braden's contact information but came up empty. But a friend of Moffett's found her on Facebook and sent her a message.

Braden, 49, who lives in Hillsborough, N.C., said she had posted the letter hoping to find someone with memories of Sarna.

"For a lot of my growing up, we didn't talk a lot about him," she said of her brother, the oldest of eight children. "I just started getting really curious to find out if there was anyone out there who was with him at all in the time that he was there who could say, 'Oh yeah, I knew him and we did this for fun,' or find out what music he liked, his favorite foods - just the really boring, mundane stuff that I would have liked to have known."

When she received the message from Moffett's friend, she was leery, Braden said. She didn't respond immediately, instead looking up Moffett's book online and the dedication page. "And there, staring me in the face was my brother's name, and pretty much all the air went out of me," she said.

She got Moffett's phone number and an emotional conversation ensued. Braden then invited Moffett to a family reunion in Northville, Mich. Moffett flew out on Veterans Day, hoping he could provide some closure for the family.

'Now I know he's home'

Moffett was met by Braden at the airport and they drove to St. Hedwig Cemetery in Dearborn Heights to visit Sarna's grave. When they arrived, Moffett said, he knelt on the ground and whispered, "Now I know he's home."

Sarna's mother, Cecilia, 85, arrived at the cemetery, saw Moffett, dropped her cane and came rushing toward him to embrace him, he said. Later, she presented Moffett with a gift: one of her son's dog tags. "It's been just a wonderful experience for all of us," Braden said. "It's like family coming home."

After a large Polish dinner, the family talked to Moffett about his life in Vietnam. Braden said she wasn't interested in hearing combat stories, but rather the things they did for fun. "The way they kept themselves entertained, the jokes that they made, the friendships that they formed - the things that made them human," she said.

At the dinner, Moffett announced he was donating $5,000 to start a scholarship in Sarna's name. He also gave Sarna's mother a leather-bound copy of his book. On the dedication page he wrote:

"Your son gave his life for our country on March 13, 1968 and through a twist of fate, my life was spared. I will be eternally grateful to Arnie and the entire Sarna family for his supreme sacrifice on that day. He will always be my hero."

Several days ago, after his trip to Michigan, Moffett said: "I'm just overwhelmed with all the love and affection I've received from these people. This has been just the greatest 24 hours."