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451st AEW receives quilts to comfort wounded

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melissa B. White
  • 451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Stitch by stitch, piece by piece, people back home are showing their warm and caring support for wounded American troops through Quilts of Valor.

"Each one takes approximately three weeks to finish and can cost up to $130," said Susan Seay, president of the South Carolina Quilts of Valor. "These are indeed a labor of love. We have never sold a quilt, nor do we intend to ... It means quite a bit to us to be able to show our gratitude (to) all you and the other servicemembers for what you do on our behalf."

Through association with relatives and friends, Chap. (Capt.) Paul Joyner, 451st Air Expeditionary Wing chaplain at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, was able to establish a connection with the SCQOV and is able to receive the quilts in his office directly. The 451st AEW chaplains started receiving the quilts last week and have been able to distribute about 22 of them to the medical facilities here.

"Now that they have an address to send it to, we're hoping to keep getting them regularly and we'll show our replacements what to do with them and where to take them when they receive the quilts," said Chaplain Joyner. "This is the right place to be sending these quilts. Our (Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility), Role 3 hospital, and aeromedical evacuation folks are the ones laying hands on the people within hours and they know who to give the quilts to ... These people earned it the hard way."

Lt. Col. Camille Looney, 451st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron CASF flight commander, said she is humbled to be a part of this process. She is also glad to have Quilts of Valor for her patients because she said it's nice to be able to send them to the plane with something to cover themselves with other than just a pair of pajamas.

"Most of the people we get through here are so critically injured that they're either unconscious or don't know what's going on, but we know what it means for them," the colonel said.

In 2003, the national Quilts of Valor Foundation was founded by a military mother while her son was deployed to Iraq. Ever since, the Quilts of Valor has donated more than 31,000 quilts to wounded warriors, with their tickers still counting as the war continues.