A runaway truck in San Francisco got in Arnold's way.

Arnold H. Sehestedt was born on January 17, 1907, in California, to Samuel and Emma Sehestedt. Arnold, along with his brother Harold and sister Edna, grew up in a home in the Branciforte district of Santa Cruz. It is likely that he attended local elementary schools, but his high school enrollment has not been confirmed. Later, Arnold and his mother moved to the Granite Creek area of the county where they remained until 1943.

During his residence in the county, Sehestedt was employed as a plumber. He learned that trade while employed by the Santa Cruz Plumbing Service and practiced it working for the firm of Fred Schlichting.

In 1943 Arnold Sehestedt entered the US Army, and his mother relocated to Berkeley, California, to live with her daughter Edna. Sehestedt completed basic training and was assigned to Station Complement Unit 1932, a supply company assigned to Fort Winfield Scott at the Presidio of San Francisco. While working at that fort on January 21, 1944, Arnold Sehestedt was struck and killed by a runaway truck.

Following a funeral at the Halstead and Company Mortuary in San Francisco on January 26, Sehestedt was buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California.

(USCR, 1910, US Census, CA, Santa Cruz; NARA2; ACGEN; USDVA; SCSn January 22, 1944 Page 1, January 23, 1944; CDR)