Two Golden Triangle veterans were recently honored for their service to the United States.
William Emmett Buchanan, of West Point, and Melissa Saraiva, of Columbus, received quilts for the Quilts of Valor Foundation on Tuesday at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.
The presentation was part of a reception kicked off the library’s annual quilt exhibit, which is on display until late April.
Greg and Alice Deakle, of Tupelo, serve as volunteer district coordinators for northern Mississippi. Last year, they gave away 47 quilts to veterans, including 12 World War II veterans.
Alice Deakle noted that the quilts are awarded to living people who are nominated by others through the nonprofit’s website, qovf.org/. Each quilt is labeled with the recipient’s name, date it was given and the names of those who made it. They are registered with the foundation and have to meet certain size requirements.
“As we sew, we pour our gratitude into the quilt,” said Alice Deakle, who along with her four sisters and several others helps make quilts in a Quilt of Valor chapter called Gracie’s Girls, after Alice’s mother.
“We want them to know they are forever in our heart,” she said. “We like to think of these layers in this way: The top of the quilt with its many colors and shapes and fabrics represent the communities and the many individuals. The batting is the filler; the center of the quilt. Its warmth represents our hope that this quilt will bring warmth, comfort, peace and healing to the individual who receives it.
“The backing is the strength that supports the other layers,” Alice Deakle continued. “It represents the strength of the recipient, the support of his or her family, our communities and our nation. Each stitch that holds the layers together represents love.”
Buchanan was a corporal in the U.S. Army. He served from 1946-48 in Japan during the end of World War II and from 1950-52 during the Korean War.
He noted that he received many honorary awards in the past, but the quilt was special. Alice Deakle said his quilt was made by her older sister.
“It’s such an honor,” Buchanan said. “I received many honorary awards and certificates for my service, but this is more personal. It’s inspiring.”
Saraiva was a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force who served from 1990-2011. Her quilt was made by a 86-year-old woman who made a quilt top and brought it to Quilts of Valor to be quilted into a new pattern.
“It’s an honor,” Saraiva said of receiving her quilt.
Quilts of Valor Foundation was started in 2003 after a Blue Star mom, Catherine Roberts had a dream while her son was deployed in Iraq, Greg Deakle said.
In the dream, a young man was sitting on the side of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over.
According to the foundation’s website, Roberts said, “I could see his war demons clustered around, dragging him down into an emotional gutter. Then, as if viewing a movie, I saw him in the next scene wrapped in a quilt. His whole demeanor changed from one of despair to one of hope and well-being. The quilt had made this dramatic change. The message of my dream was: Quilts = Healing.”
The foundation is made up of volunteers who donate their time and materials to make a quilt. One person puts together the top, and another person quilts it.
More than 20,000 volunteers across the country have given 298,033 quilts to active duty service members and veterans since the foundation was formed.
“Our foundation represents one human being, reaching out and touching another, without judgment, reaching out with acceptance and with acknowledgement of service to our nation in very trying circumstances,” Greg Deakle said. “As a foundation, we will go wherever those that have been touched by war go wherever they are.
“And they’re in plain sight. Columbus is a military town,” he said. “There are, of course, those veterans who have served, but there’s also a lot of people in Columbus that are currently serving. And those are the ones we’re currently trying to reach out to.”
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