Edward was born in Florida, but his great-great-grandfather, Mykhailo Arsenych, emigrated to the United States from the village of Kosmach in Ivano-Frankivsk region at the beginning of the 20th century. In April 2022, Edward arrived in Ukraine and joined the ranks of the International Legion. According to his father, Edward Wilton Jr., his son had always dreamed of being a soldier, inspired from an early age by heroic epics such as Homer’s «Iliad».
Edward Wilton III’s life was tragically cut short on April 7, 2023, near the village of Novoselivka in Luhansk region, as a result of enemy artillery shelling.
The defender’s father donated a special family heirloom to the Museum – a memorial quilt handmade by Edward’s cousin, Helen Wilton Fernandez. This is a symbol of American family remembrance for loved ones who are no longer with us, a tradition particularly common in the southern United States. The quilt is woven in the colors of the Ukrainian flag and adorned with sunflowers, embodying the symbols of the land from which the Wilton family’s roots sprang – a land Edward deeply loved and for which he gave his life.
We are deeply grateful to Edward Wilton Jr. for his trust in the Museum and for sharing his family’s memory with us.
