March 28, 2024

Offering comfort and showing appreciation

Two Creston veterans honored with Quilts of Valor

Two Creston veterans were honored with handmade quilts from the Quilts of Valor Foundation during a short presentation and ceremony Sunday at the Creston Freedom Rock.

Joyce Franklin presented Marcus Lacy and Bob Means with the quilts in front of a small gathering of family, friends and other veterans.

Lacy served in Afghanistan in the U.S. Army Black Sheep 10th Mountain Division until he was injured by an IED in 2008.

“It means a lot,” said Lacy. “As veterans, sometimes we don’t feel like people appreciate what we’ve done, and things like this really bring it to light that there are thousands of people out there that actually do appreciate what we do. It’s little things like this that mean the most to us.

“I’m a huge football fan, and I love to just sit on my couch and watch the game and this is going to be around me all the time,” he added. “I really appreciate it. I wish I could meet the people who did this for me and put the hard work into it. It’s great. Reminds me of my grandma.”

Means served as a corporal in Germany from 1954 to 1956. The honor and presentation of his quilt left him speechless.

“I wish I could express my feelings,” he said.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation was started in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, a “Blue Star” mother, who made the first quilt for her son who was deployed to Iraq.

“She was a mom, and she woke up from a dream and saw her son sitting on the side of a bed, and he just looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders,” said Franklin. “She thought that a quilt would comfort him, so she made a quilt and it just kind of rolled from there.”

As of Veterans Day weekend, Franklin said she believes more than 200,000 quilts have been given to veterans and service members across the country, and the group she belongs to has made more than 120 this year alone.

The mission of the organization is “to honor our service members and veterans who have been touched by war with a quilt of valor.”

“You know, some of those men weren’t welcomed home, and for some of them getting their quilt of valor, knowing that someone has appreciated them is a really special thing,” said Franklin. “If you can sit in your comfy chair and curl up in a quilt, you think about that thanks that you’re getting for your service. It doesn’t matter if they didn’t see battle. Everyone who serves deserves a quilt.”

Quilt presentations are not always a public event. Some people prefer to keep them private without a lot of fanfare and for others, it simply isn’t possible to get out for a public presentation.

The quilts can also be presented any time.

“In the summer, we awarded 25 quilts at the Iowa Quilt Museum,” said Franklin. “We had a whole display of Quilts of Valor. Some people came from other  states to get their quilts there because people from their states had made the quilts and had them exhibited in the museum. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

The quilts don’t have to be red, white and blue, explained Franklin, although those are the colors chosen most often because they signify the flag and person’s love for the country. It takes roughly 20 to 40 hours to complete each quilt depending on the size and materials can run as much as $250.

For the individuals who create the quilts, the time and money is a small sacrifice they are happy to make if it means that a service member or veteran feels honored and appreciated for what they have sacrificed to protect the country and people.

“Quilts offer comfort,” said Franklin. “They are a way of making people feel loved. Who doesn’t love a quilt?”