For a group of local quilters, Veteran’s Day is more than just an annual celebration. The Wasilla-based, Forget-Me-Not Quilters, stitch quilts all year long, in order to comfort and welcome United States veterans home. KTNA’s Colleen Love has this story.
When Talkeetna resident, Claire Priebe heard that a group of Vietnam veterans were planning a reunion in Alaska last summer, she made some inquiries. She wanted to know if any of the veterans had been presented with a Quilt of Valor. When she discovered that most had not already been given a quilt, she pulled out her needle and thread and began stitching. Priebe is a member of the Forget-Me-Not Quilters, a Wasilla-based group of about thirty women that Priebe estimates have made more than 3,000 quilts for Alaska’s veterans.
“Quilts of Valor in Alaska is one busy group and the Forget-Me-Not quilters are phenomenal. These women are amazing.”
The Quilts of Valor Foundation was founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, a woman whose son had been deployed in Iraq. Understanding the massive stress that serving in the military can bring, Roberts began making quilts to comfort veterans and began recruiting others to do the same. The Quilts of Valor Foundation now has chapters throughout the United States and has created hundreds of thousands of quilts.
Priebe explains why she thinks the organization is important.
“Our mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war, however that takes on a lot of meanings. We are not here to judge because there’s so many battles that some of these guys have that aren’t visible. So without judgement, it’s just reaching out with acknowledgement of service. It’s one human being to another.”
Whenever Priebe is informed of a veteran, she begins the steps to connect them with a quilt. This past August, Priebe was on hand in Talkeetna to present the entire squadron of the reuniting veterans with colorful quilts to thank them each for their service. Despite the fact that those veterans returned home over fifty years ago, Priebe maintains that it is never too late to properly welcome a veteran home.
For KTNA, I’m Colleen Love
