Post Falls veterans honored with Quilts of Valor

Eight veterans received Quilts of Valor at the Post Falls Veterans Home Veterans Day celebration Wednesday. 

Seth Alderman, veterans home staff member, quilt recipient and keynote speaker, said receiving the quilt was “awesome.”

“It sure was an honor,” he said. 

Kayla Main of Quilts of Valor said each patch and stitch is tailored for the veteran who will receive the quilt.

Each quilt is decorated with the veteran’s awards, their branch of service and years of service. 

“What’s so important about it is it's theirs. It’s not like a blanket,” Alderman said. “It just means a lot more.” 

Alderman recited a poem written by one of the home’s residents titled, “Reflection in Stone.” He cited the importance of servicemen during pivotal points in history and the intertwined legacies of veterans and America250. 

“You are the living anchor of this 250-year anniversary,” he said.

He said veterans' sacrifices are too many and too large to be repaid in a single day, but that instead, caring for veteran families, helping former servicemen find healthcare and living every day as a citizen “worthy” of veterans' “immense actions,” is how one should repay them.

“We must protect the democracy that our betters so selflessly bled to preserve,” he said. 

Main said Quilts of Valor receives its quilt recommendations from foundations and organizations. On average, she said it takes around 30 hours to make one quilt. 

Main said many veterans feel they don’t deserve the quilts, but she thinks differently.  

“If you served, you deserve it,” she said. 

Post Falls Veterans Home Chaplain Larry Kay called Veterans Day a celebration that is “absolutely deserved.” 

Kay said Americans enjoy freedoms because “someone else made sacrifices.” 

“People’s lives change completely when they are called to duty,” he said. “Young lives are interrupted, plans are interrupted and we are the ones who reap the benefits.” 

He said he was glad someone “back in history” set Veterans Day aside to be celebrated. 

He called veterans “both ordinary and extraordinary people.”   

    Ken Johnson, Desiree Johnson, and Navy veteran Steve Smith stood and saluted while "Taps" was played for the room.
  

    Veteran and keynote speaker Seth Alderman said that Wednesday's event was a "big deal" for local veterans.