Cherry Creek community veterans honored in Quilt of Valor ceremonies

 

This past Friday, March 3rd, eight ceremonies were held to honor veterans within our Cherry Creek Schools community by the Quilts of Valor Foundation at Fox Hollow Elementary as a special tribute to their decades of service. Each veteran received a personalized ceremony detailing their service where they were wrapped in a hand-made quilt. The gift of a hand-made quilt symbolizes home, safety, and love as a token of appreciation for our veterans who have risked their lives for our nation.

 

The Quilts of Valor Foundation was founded by Catherine Roberts, who made a quilt for her son when he was deployed in 2003. Since then 336,000 veterans have been wrapped in quilts while surrounded by their friends and family.

“People ask all the time what constitutes receiving a quilt of valor? And it has nothing to do with your MOS, or title, or DD214, but rather the minute you wrote your name on that dotted line, giving over yourself and your family for your country makes you viable to receive a quilt of valor,” said Jan Weber, who organizes the ceremonies as a member of the Smoky Hill Quilt Club.

The eight veterans wrapped on Friday were CCSD employees, members of the Cherry Creek community, and one brave service dog, Chloe.

 

All of the quilts are sewn by the Smoky Hill Quilt Club. Jan noted that, “The hardest part of my job is not making the quilts but getting veterans to let us honor them. Every veteran says the same thing, "I didn't do enough, I came back whole, I didn’t lose any parts, I didn’t lose my life, but you know a piece of you was taken away when you went away and when you came back you were forever changed.”

 

This sentiment was echoed by honoree Ervin Krueger in tearful remarks at the end of his ceremony, “This really doesn't feel deserving, but it's very honorable to me to have served and I just want to say thank you.”

Erv served in the US Marine Corps for 34 years beginning in 1962. He was first deployed in Japan from 1964-1965, where he served at several air bases in the far east. When he returned to California with less than six months left to serve, the military extended all service members by four months. While he did not have to go to Vietnam, he chose to spend the next ten months there.

Erv described conditions in Vietnam as “remarkably wet or remarkably hot, sometimes both at once. Sand and dust were a problem for weeks, then the monsoon rains would turn the sand and dust into mud, besides dampening everything in camp. The Post exchange was primitive. There was no liberty and few R&R trips.”

Many veterans who served in Vietnam, like Erv, never received the “welcome home” celebrations that most of our troops have, and it is our duty to ensure that all our veterans know how grateful we are for their service.

 

 

March 2023 Quilts of Valor Honorees

Mark Manwell, Air Force

Chloe Manwell, K9 Air Force

Challen Alonza, Army

Matthew Wheeler, Navy

Bob Briggs, Air Force

Travis Jackson, Air Force

Robert Hotzfeld, Air Force

Alex Klaus, CO National Guard

Ervin Krueger, Marine Corps

Tabitha Summey, Army