![]() ![]() Roberts continued efforts to support troops during wartime, she became aware of the Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base after reading about the center in Operation Homecoming. THOSE AFFECTED BY THE HUMAN COSTS OF WAR ALSO RECEIVE QUILTSĪs Ms. "What makes the Quilt of Valor stand out is that this wartime quilt says without equivocation or hesitancy, 'thank you for your service, sacrifice and valor while standing in harm's way for our country'." "Our servicemembers have been touched by war and now it is time for them to be touched by our comforting and healing wartime quilts," said Ms. To date, well over 23,000 active duty, reserve and National Guard troops have been awarded Quilts of Valor the majority for Army Soldiers, followed by Marines, Air Force Airmen, Navy Sailors and Coast Guard Coasties. once travelled to Walter Reed with their parents aboard a bus to deliver quilts the children helped make. Roberts has made about 10 visits to Walter Reed where chaplains and Red Cross members assist in awarding hundreds of quilts. and American Legion posts, churches, schools, shopping mall parking lots and private homes. QOV awards also occurred aboard military transports flying troops from the combat theater to the U.S., in airport U.S.O. military service academies and Arlington National Cemetery. and to several in Iraq and Afghanistan, V.A. Quilts were soon on their way beyond Walter Reed - to every military medical center in the U.S. quilting community, estimated to be as large as 27 million people, with a simple message - she asked them to volunteer their time to make custom quilts to award to the nation's troops. In order to accomplish the Foundation's mission Ms. servicemembers and veterans from all conflicts affected by war. The mission has expanded to include all U.S. ![]() servicemember wounded physically or psychologically by service in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is about people."įrom 2003 to 2009, the Foundation intended to award quilts to each U.S. The Foundation website describes the essence of the organization: "A Quilt of Valor is a wartime quilt, made to honor those touched by war. ![]() Roberts soon had a modern nationwide supply and distribution network for the Foundation. Marrying quilting groups - a form of face-to-face social networking in place since before the Civil War - with the power of the internet, Ms. Roberts built a website ( ) to connect quilters, and developed a system to find recipients at dozens of medical facilities and get the quilts into the hands of troops. Initially named Quilts for Soldiers, she quickly changed the name to Quilts of Valor to embrace all branches of the armed forces. Her research found none anywhere in the nation, so she moved forward to develop the Foundation. Roberts checked to see if there were any organized efforts to provide quilts to wounded warriors. Chaplain Kallerson accepted the first quilt for a wounded soldier and "opened the doors at Walter Reed for our Quilts of Valor," said Ms. Kallerson, who "knew the power of the quilt," because his wife Connie was also a quilter. A web search put her in touch with Army Chaplain John L. The first quilt went to a soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "Once I got the first quilt done, I had to find a wounded recipient," said Ms. The project, now six years strong, has awarded tens of thousands of handmade quilts to American troops. Roberts to start the nonprofit Quilts of Valor Foundation, chartered in Delaware. "Warriors need something tangible, a physical representation of love, support and remembrance." In 2003 Catherine Roberts, a midwife by profession and quilter for 25 years from Seaford, wanted to give a wounded soldier a quilt to bring him comfort during his recovery.
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