Five veterans were honored with Quilts of Valor during a ceremony this week at the Eisenhower Recreation Center.
Quilts of Valor serve as handmade, personalized reminders of a grateful nation that thanks veterans for their service and sacrifice. They are presented in the company of family and friends by the Khaki Quilters, a chapter of the Quilting Guild of The Villages led by Sheila Robbins. She has coordinated the presentations and personalization of the quilts for about 157 veterans since 2015.
“On each quilt is a label and comes with a presentation case and QOV certificate and journal,” said Robbins to the recipients. “As of today, the story of this quilt becomes your story.”
Sergeant Gordon Carlson joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1965 and had 14 combat operations in one tour. He was in the First Battalion/Ninth Marines known as “The Walking Dead.” He was wounded in action and was on the hospital ship, USS Repose (AH-16) for three months. Besides the Vietnam Service Medal, he also received a Purple Heart.
Sergeant Francis Campbell joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1964 and attended basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, then Camp Pendleton, California. He was stationed in DaNang, The Republic of Vietnam, for 13 moths and then Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to protect the Embassy. He was a marksman in .45 caliber pistol. He received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service and Vietnam Service Medals.
Captain Carl Brown joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1963. After attending boot camp and six months of aviation maintenance training, he attended flight school in Florida. He served as a reservist until he started pilot training, and he was qualified to fly all the aircraft that the Marine Corps had at the time.
Brown also served as a Marine Corps aviator in Vietnam, VMA 315 Squadron. His last assignment was to train officers to get combat ready for replacement of DCO’s for the Vietnam squadron. He received his WINGS OF GOLD in 1971. This is a yearly honor that the Navy League bestows on a top navy pilot.
Staff Sergeant Daniel McRae joined the U.S. Army in 1974. During his initial enrollment, he served with the Military Police Corps. He deployed to Kaiserslautern, Germany, in 1975 until his honorable discharge in June 1978.
McRae had a break in service from 1978-1984 when he joined the U.S. Army Reserves in the Engineering Corps. From that unit, he volunteered in 1990 to serve during the Persian Gulf War. Within a month he was assigned to a National Guard Unit from Michigan and deployed to Saudi Arabia as that unit’s personnel administrative specialist.
As a civilian, McRae supported veterans and their dependents in roles at the VA Medical Center from 1978-1997 and as a veteran’s service officer, then director of his county’s veteran’s service office. As a result of exposure related to the Persian Gulf War, he has service-related disabilities.
Master Sergeant Crystal Martin joined the U.S. Air Force in 1987 and served in various locations, including Germany, Guam, Turkey, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Edwards AFB, Norton AFB and Humanitarian Operations. She is an OIF/OEF IRAQ war veteran and served as a combat medic, specifically an aerospace medical technician.
During combat, Martin processed over 400 bodies to mortuary affairs which included women and children. This included following military procedures to photograph and identify.
If you would like to nominate a fellow veteran for a quilt of valor, go to www.qovf.org. Enter “Sheila Robbins, The Villages” as the QOVF leader, and the quilt request will go to Robbins for a presentation. Veterans from other states can be nominated, as well. Send a copy of the confirmation to [email protected], and she will coordinate the request.
