My wife, an avid quilter, wanted to start a new one and was unable to find the material she wanted in our town, so we took a little trip to a well-known quilting shop out in the remote farmlands near the village of Shoshoni, WY, name of the place was, no kidding, Sheep Camp Quilts.

Anyway, very good quilt shop, two nice ladies running it, wife found exactly what she wanted and we got ready to check out. I was wearing my "Air Force Retired, Vietnam Vet" hat like I usually do. The ladies got to chatting me up about what I did and when I did it. After a bit, one of the ladies went in back and came out with a beautiful full-size handmade patriotic quilt and presented it to me with hugs and "thank you for your service, etc". I was just flabbergasted, didn't really know what to say. Turned out, they are members of the National Quilts of Valor organization, which makes these quilts and presents them to war vets. I had never even heard of it but I looked it up later and was quite impressed. It is no small deal, there are about 10,000 quilters involved in makng and donationg these quilts.

Wife kind of sniffled most of the way home. I didn't say much either, just thinking of how things were 50 years ago for Vietnam vets and how things are now.

Here's a pic. If you know a combat vet, wounded or not, you might contact this outfit off their website, see if you can line him/her up to receive one of these quilts.

Great story

Rates a two cool...

What a great concept. Very nice of them to do that and that is a great looking quilt. My mom and some relatives quilt. There are 100's of hours put into a quilt. It is hard to put a price on them. Is there some way to link their shop and possibly make a donation of sorts for these ladies? I am not rich, but anything that would help them with their cause would be worthwhile.

Great story.

Great story and I believe you deserve that wonderful gift.

Times are a lot different than they were in the 60s and 70s. Whenever I see another vet I like to shake their hand and say welcome home. Last week I did it and found out the guy served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. I shook his hand twice.

Very nice and well deserved.

Dale

Very very nice. Thank you for your service!

Here is their website
http://sheepcampquilts.com/new-page-1.aspx

and on their site they have a link to Quilts Of Valor Foundation
http://www.qovf.org/

Good hearted lady's. I appreciate you also, thank you.

There are some ladies in Mason, TX that do the same thing.

This last year I was a volunteer at a Veterans hunt with another 24hr forum member here, and those ladies gave theirs away to a veteran at the lunch portion of the hunt.

It is for people like this which still makes the country work.

Actually, here is the one I referenced above.

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OUTSTANDING!

Sir, you'd never want anything I've sewn, but I am truly grateful for your service.

That is fantastic!!
There are some good wholesome folks in this country.

..that need to stand up and make their voice heard at the elections! Extremely nice gesture and sounds like a well appreciated gift. Good for you.

Use it Proudly, you earned it sir.


I'm glad I was to young to really know what was going on with the returning soldiers or I would have been jailed for throat punching every one of those worthless sons a biches.

You, sir, deserve it, and better late than never....

Great story. Now, who doesn't love a pleasant surprise? Thank you, jnyork.

Very cool. Thank You for your service.

This is exactly the kind of things I love on this campfire. It always makes my day to hear stuff like this, and know that some folks still love our country.
God bless you for your service, and these ladies for their support.
7mm

Thanks from here as well!

Very nice of the ladies!

Thank you for your service !!!!!! Enjoy that beautiful gift

Thank you sir for sharing this story and most of all for your service to our country!!!! May God Bless America

Thank you, fellers, for all your kind words. They are appreciated.

The folks that run the Quilts of Valor program, and all the ladies than make the quilts, need to be commended for all their work. America is still a great country due to people like these who stand up and do good things without being asked.

Congratulations on the great looking quilt, and thanks for your service, sir!

Very neat and thanks!
America is STILL the best country on this earth!

My wife makes quilts for them. The sewing shop she teaches at gets the gals together at the shop about once a month for this.

My blood just boils when I hear the stories of what you fine men were subjected to when you returned from the war. It's funny this comes up today, and I had another vet encounter today. A man came in with his eyeglass prescription to get filled, and it was from the local VA facility. As I always due, I mentioned that I saw he was retired military and thanked him for his service. We got to talking and I found out he was a retired Coastie. He spoke of getting off the plane and getting spit on and swore at by the people waiting to assault him. It's deplorable that our military men couldn't feel safe walking the streets of their home towns while in uniform. What a sad state of affairs. I hope all the idiots that saw fit to jeer our men and disrespect them rot in hell for doing this.

My thanks to all our men and women who answered the call to serve. No matter how you were treated in the past, rest assured that there are civilians out there who recognize how much you sacrificed and are forever grateful.