Back around 1967, Leopold Casas and John Barrett were practically just boys as they headed off to a far-way place called Vietnam, Barrett in the Navy; Casas in the Marines. Each served and then came home to work and raise families. Forty-seven years later, someone thought they should be thanked and recognized in a special way for their service.
Terry O, a representative of the national non-profit organization, Quilts of Valor Foundation, drove to Hollister from Placerville, to personally thank the two men and give each a hand-made quilt.
“Quilts of Valor Foundation was founded in 2003, by Kathryn Roberts,” Terry said. “Her son was deployed to Iraq, and when he came home she wrapped him in a quilt and she felt it offered him comfort and healing.”
She said, to date, more than 139,000 quilts have been awarded to veterans across the nation.
“We’re doing two today for Leo Casas and John Barrett,” she said June 22 in front of the Veterans Memorial Building as friends and family members gathered. “One thing we want to let John and Leo know is our quilters come from the community. We happen to be from Placerville because there is no Quilts of Valor group here.”
Casas said he went to Vietnam in 1965 until 1966, with the Fourth Marine Regiment out of Hawaii. He said he was surprised by the event.
“I was surprised because I’m going to be here in the parade Thursday with my horse representing the Wounded Warriors, and I’m bringing the guy from Iraq with me,” he said, adding that he will be wearing his old Marine Corps uniform.
Barrett, who walked across the street for the ceremony from McKinnon Lumber, which he owns, said he served in the Navy as a Personnelman 2nd Class Petty Officer. He didn’t know why he was standing in front of the Veterans Memorial Building or that he had been nominated for the quilt.
“I served at the Naval Air Station at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam,” he said. “I was in the Navy from 1966 to 1970.”
Terry said the two veterans had been on the list to receive quilts since 2014, and were nominated by Jeannettee Velasquez. Terry said it took two years because California has so many veterans and each quilt takes a long time to make, sometimes being pieced together by as many as 50 people. She said it was mainly through Velazquez’s dogged persistence and follow-through that the men finally received their quilts.
“The quilters are people from communities all over the country and fabrics are also donated from all over, so the quilts aren’t just from our group,” she said. “They’re from many people who just want to say ‘thank you’ to veterans, their service, their sacrifice and their valor.”
Terry said fabrics are collected nationwide and that she has come to the Hollister area a number of times to pick up donated materials.
“It doesn’t really matter where they come from; they come from a community of people,” she said, explaining that most have a patriotic color theme. “Most are red, white and blue. We only tailor them to a particular service if we have the specific logos. But it really doesn’t matter which branch of service they’re from. We put the same amount of attention and care and love into each one of them.”
People who would like to get more information about the foundation, make a donation, or want be a part of the group, can do so by going to the foundation’s website, http://www.qovf.org/.
“We could really use a group here in Hollister,” Terry said. “I think the closest is in Morgan Hill. But we like to take care of our veterans, no matter where they are. Anybody in the community can start a Quilts of Valor group.”
She said a person doesn’t need to know how to quilt in order to help.
“There are people who iron; there are people who do the cutting; and people can just be presenters,” she said.
Along with the two quilts, she presented Casas and Barrett with pillow cases that she said were made by children who penned thank you notes to go with the gifts.
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