Inmates honor fallen soldier

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A group of inmates at the Wabash Correctional Facility presented a quilt to the Griffin Family.

The Griffin's lost their son Dale while fighting for our freedom over in Afghanistan last year.

Dale's father, Gene, teaches the inmates about gospel principals at the prison on a frequent basis.

In part to Gene’s commitment he has made to the inmates and on behalf of the sacrifice their son made for their freedom, they made a quilt in honor of Dale.

"Just the effort, the time the thought that went into the letter and the blanket is overwhelming," Gene Griffin said.

"I think there were tears of joy as well as sadness and sorrow. I think there might have been a little bit of healing in his mom's face," Inmate from the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility Randy O’Brien said.

The inmates who presented the quilt are members of a program called P.L.U.S.

P.L.U.S. is a faith and character based re-entry initiative. The unit is geared towards teaching core fundamental values that will challenge and focus on positive reinforcement, through learned behavior.

The emphasis of this voluntary initiative focuses on strengthening spiritual, moral and character development as well as life-skills. P.L.U.S. empowers offenders with the necessary tools to become more productive members of society upon re-entry.

The Wabash Valley Correctional Facility P.L.U.S. unit is actively involved in a unique community service project, in memory of fallen heroes. The unit makes memorial quilts for families of Indiana soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Each quilt includes the soldier’s name, unit, date of birth and date of passing. The branch of service insignia is also included on the memorial quilt. Over 104 quilts been distributed to families around the state.

Community involvement sends a message to the offender that the community has a vested interest in their success.

Offenders volunteer to take part in the 16 month program; they receive no time cuts for their efforts.

Letter to the Griffin family from the inmates.