Arners Are Jefferson County’s First Husband/Wife Veterans Of The Month

By Doug KapkeFor the first time, a husband and wife have been chosen as joint Veterans of the Month for March, 2026. They were honors by Jefferson County Commissioners Tuesday morning, March 10. In addition, they were presented with a hand-made, patriotic wall-hanging created by Rory Rosener.Dan Arner was born to a rural farm family living near Fairbury on May 4, 1953. He attended grade school at Central School and was a four-year wrestler at Fairbury High School. Upon graduation in 1971 he began working for Westin Foods. He also joined the Fairbury Army Armor National Guard Unit, in May, 1971. His Basic and Advanced Individual Training were at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was trained as an Infantry Army Scout. Barb (Hergott) Arner was born to a dairy farming family with 16 children in the Gilead community. She attended kindergarten in Alexandria and fourth through eighth grades in Gilead. She attended Hebron High School where she majored in Home Economics. There were no girl sports. At that time there were more farm families sharing work on their farms. Through one of these shared work experiences is where she met her future husband, Dan Arner. Upon graduation from Hebron High in 1969, Barb joined the Women’s Army Corps. Her Basic Training was at Fort McClellan, Alabama being trained as a “Medic,” and her Advanced Individual Training was at Fort Belvoir, Virginia being trained as “Nurse’s Aid.” Her primary duties while on active duty were helping to deliver babies and working in the baby nursery. E-5 Hergot was awarded the National Service Defense Medal and was recognized as a Medical Corpsman and as a Medical Specialist. She returned to her Nebraska home in 1972. Dan and Barb were married in 1973. While raising their two boys and a daughter, Barb worked several jobs over the years including Head Start, a nursing home, Swingsters, Westin Packaged Meats and the Jefferson County School System. Meanwhile, Dan was embarking on a 48-year career at Westin Packaged Meats and a 40-year career in the Army National Guard. Master Sergeant (E-8) Arner spent considerable time away from family attending summer camps and on two deployments spanning over two years and nine months. The first deployment was to Bosnia. Land mines were the worst problem with this run peace mission with “Russian and German Coalition Forces.” The second deployment to Iraq was during the period of time when Saddam Hussein was executed. They experienced mortar attacks at nights. The only loss of human life was when one man died as a result of health complications from a near canal drowning. Both deployments were sufficiently dangerous to receive combat pay. During Master Sergeant Arner’s military career he was awarded: Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with Eight Year Service, Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal (Second Award), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (Third Award), Army Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal (Third Award), Armed Forces Reserve Medal w “M” Device, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal and Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Pistol. Dan is a lifetime member of the VFW and both are active in their church. In semi-retirement they are making up for lost time spent away from family members during holidays, birthdays and special occasions. They currently live in rural Jefferson County and are enjoying their 10 grandchildren along with playing cards and outdoor activities.

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