When I asked the man if this was where Helga Rider lived, he told me yes, she did live there. When I told him that I wanted to interview Helga about her husband's death, he told me that she wouldn't talk to me because she does not like to talk about it. I asked him if he would let her know that I was there, which he did. After several minutes Helga reluctantly opened the front door. She and I talked about a lot of things and finally she started talking about her husband, who was Jim Rider to her. She said that her husband never went by the name of Arnold, that everyone called him Jim. The pain on her face and the emotion in her voice told me that indeed she had never gotten over the loss of her husband thirty seven years ago in Vietnam.
She told me that Jim Rider was the best man a woman could ever have, that he was great husband, good father, had beautiful blue eyes, and she still missed him a lot.
Staff Sergeant Arnold Tillman Rider was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on July 3, 1930. His family later moved to Ballground, Georgia, which is near Marietta, where he lived until he joined the Army.
Arnold joined the army and his first permanent duty station was at Weinheim, Germany in 1951. Arnold and some of the soldiers from his unit were swimming in the local pool in Weinheim when Helga, his future wife, slipped and fell on him. They started dating and got married while he was stationed in Weinheim. Thereafter his family moved with him to every post that he was assigned except for Vietnam. He was next assigned to Kaefertal, Germany and soon thereafter he was moved to Darmstadt, Germany in 1954.
The family moved to Ft Ord, California in 1956 when Arnold was stationed there. While at Ft Ord, the family lived in Castroville, California. He was assigned to Darmstadt, Germany again from 1958 to 1963. Helga was really pleased with this assignment because she was near her family in Weinheim. The family moved to Ft Benning in Columbus, Georgia in 1963.
Arnold thought that he was going to be assigned to Korea after his assignment at Fort Benning, however he was assigned to Kitzingen, Germany for three years. His last duty station prior to going to Vietnam was to Key West in 1968. Helga stated that there was a large military group in Key West at that time due to the recent Cuba arms embargo.
Helga stated that both Arnold and she were amazed that he was assigned to Vietnam, just ten months away from his retirement on April 3, 1970.
Arnold was always assigned to an engineering brigade, which involved supplies, building roads where troops were stationed overseas, and the motor pool. While in Vietnam, he was assigned to work for the Headquarters Company, 20th Engineer Brigade.
Helga stated that she was told by an Army officer from Lancaster, South Carolina who came to her home in Indian Trail, that her husband had died in Vietnam on April 3, 1970. He told her that Arnold was found in his quarters dead, of unknown causes. The Army investigated his death and found that he had died of a heart attack in his quarters at age 39.
Arnold was going to retire from his career in the military four months after he was killed in Vietnam. Helga and he had decided to settle in Indian Trail because Helga's sister, Rita was married to Keith Biggers who came from Indian Trail. Rita and Keith were already living in Indian Trail and the two sisters wanted to be near each other. She said that Arnold came to the new house she had bought for their retirement in Indian Trail for thirty days before he was transported to Vietnam.
Staff Sergeant Rider is buried at New Salem Baptist Church because Helga and his family were attending church there when he died.
He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Expert Rifle badge, a Republic of Vietnam Service Medal, a National Defense Medal, and a Germany Army of Occupation Medal.
She believes that her husband might have thought he would die in Vietnam because he told his brother in law, Keith Biggers, that if anything happened to him, for Keith to make sure that Helga got married again. She said that Jim did not want her living by herself and lonely.
Arnold really loved Germany according to Helga and he could have lived there the rest of his life. The tours of duty that Arnold was assigned was in southern Germany, usually around Frankfurt and Bavaria.
Helga and Arnold have two children, Jane and Arnold, Jr., who live in the area.