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Quilts of Valor weaves tapestry of new, old memories
BAINBRIDGE -- With stories nearly as colorful as the quilts surrounding them, the third annual Quilts of Valor program unfolded Saturday afternoon at Lifespring Church west of Bainbridge.
The One Stitch at a Time quilt club again honored friends, family, neighbors and country in a post-Veterans Day ceremony saluting 16 veterans with local ties and representing a variety of wartime experiences. The servicemen were awarded beautifully elaborate Quilts of Valor in a patriotic event that has become an annual autumn tradition.
Inspired by a Putnam County Fair quilt block contest, the club put together a tapestry of red, white and blue, honoring veterans Larry Walden, Keith Allen Lapossa, Bradley Cope, Richard Keith Pronckus, Bernard Deaton, Bryan Burholder, Dennis Liffick, Dallis Lee Harvey, Guy Richardson, Tom Herbert, Richard Riddle, Jerry Willis, Randy Robinson, Harvey Lee Gray, Steve Parrish, Clark Bryan and Ronald H. Nunez.
Fond memories, bad memories, interesting memories. All kinds were shared by the men who experienced them.
Asked if he came home from Vietnam with any medals or honors, Army Spec. Keith Allen Lapossa quipped, “Yes, I got out alive.”
An Army Korean War vet, Cpl. Richard Pronckus thanked everyone for the honor of the quilt, saying it makes him “feel like maybe I did something right for once.”
Meanwhile, Randy Robinson not so fondly recalled being spat upon returning from Vietnam after being awarded the Purple Heart.
“I thought I was here for my sister,” the surprised Robinson offered. “I said, ‘I’m not going to be spit on, am I?’ Cuz it happened to me coming back through San Francisco. I’m happy to be a brother to you all.”
And Guy Richardson, a nephew of Mary Alice Harcourt who used to spend summers at her farm and now lives in South Carolina after retiring with 27 years in the military, is a lifer.
“The military is my chosen profession,” he said proudly, “and I’ve never regretted a day of it. I’ve had a good life in the military.”
In receiving his quilt, Jerry Willis didn’t have a lot to say about his two-year hitch in the Army from May 1970-May 1972. He even suggested, “I’m not sure I’m even equal all the other men who’ve been up here today. Thank you, and God bless America.”
But away from the microphone, he confided he was in the Army Security Agency (ASA) and once had top-security clearance following basic and Army intelligence training at Ft. Jackson, S.C., and was later stationed in California, Alaska and on Okinawa.
“I could tell you more,” Willis joked (we think), “but I’d have to kill you.”
Meanwhile, the children of 90-year-old Seaman 1st Class Harvey Lee Gray -- Lee Ann Gray of Cloverdale and Michael Gray of Brownsburg -- had some interesting tales to tell about their father who witnessed the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.
A 1945 Reelsville High School graduate -- the year the school burned because of birds’ nests in the furnace -- Gray enlisted in the Navy after graduation and the first question he was asked was, “Can you type?” He said yes, and they stuck him in an office.
“I joined the Navy to see the world,” he said, “and they stuck me in Washington, D.C., in BUPERS, the Bureau of Navy Personnel in Washington, D.C., typing.”
Gray later ended up on board a tugboat, the USS Pakana in the auxiliary tug fleet based out of San Diego after World War II, towing crippled ships across the Pacific back to port for three years.
“Dad never talked to our family about his Navy days very much,” eldest daugther Lee Ann Gray said. “He did keep a journal through all of his time in the service. It’s locked, unread in this roll-top desk.”
Guest speaker for the Quilts of Valor program was Pastor Ryan Glauber of One Way Christian Church in Lebanon, himself a Navy veteran, who said as a pastor he comes across many, many veterans and always makes sure to say, “thank you, thank you for your service.”
He then shared a history lesson, retelling the story of Francis Scott Key and the bombing of Fort McHenry on Sept. 13, 1814 during the War of 1812 and how the flag represented the spirit of the American people who refused to give up. Each time the flag was hit during the bombardment, “fathers, brothers and sons would rally and hold the flag up, giving new meaning to the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ when we sing it.”
The program began with the Pledge of Allegiance and a flag ceremony conducted by members of Roachdale VFW Post 3284.