Veterans Day at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis included a Quilts of Valor ceremony for five local veterans on Saturday. See more coverage from the museum on page B11 of this edition of The Chronicle.
Those local veterans included:
• Steve Craig, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who served from 1972 to 2012 and was a captain recalled to service 13 times to respond to national emergencies and earned four Coast Guard Commendation medals.
• Ryan Foreman, a U.S. Army and National Guard veteran who served from 2003 to 2017 and was a captain who ran field artillery and earned a Bronze Star while deployed to Iraq.
• Skip Greenwell, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1968 to 1971 and was a sergeant who repaired radios for the security department, interrogated people and was deployed to Vietnam, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and India.
• Carl Stone, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1976 to 1979 and was a specialist who was a tank crewman and was stationed in Kansas and Germany.
• Tabitha Hopp, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 2002 to 2022 and was a chief warrant officer 3 who was jumpmaster certified and deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Quilts of Valor is a nationwide nonprofit started in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, the mother of an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran who wanted to help her son. It focuses on helping veterans find healing in part by gifting them handmade quilts.
According to Lynn Wiltzius, Veterans Memorial Museum Quilts of Valor chapter leader, the chapter has given 209 quilts to veterans this year so far, and 424 total since the chapter was created five years ago.
“This quilt is an expression of our gratitude, meant to thank you and comfort you,” Wiltzius said.
She added Quilts of Valor has now given out 362,564 quilts nationally.
To nominate a local veteran or someone still serving on active duty, visit the Veterans Memorial Museum at 100 SW Veterans Way in Chehalis to get a nomination form, or stop at the museum’s booth at the annual Southwest Washington Fair.
Nomination forms can be submitted at the museum or the fair booth. Nominations can also be made online at https://www.qovf.org/nominate_qov_tbw_certify/.
To contact the chapter or for more information, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VMMQOV.
