Wounded warriors honored through quilts

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jamal Sutter
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Members of the Quilts of Valor Foundation visited Moody to present quilts to five Purple Heart Medal recipients May 8.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation is an organization comprised of volunteers who make quilts for service members and veterans who have suffered or received injuries from combat.

"The goal of the Quilts of Valor is to make a quilt for each person who is coming home or veteran ... to cover them with a quilt so that it will help their healing process and take their minds off some of their trouble," said Jane Knight, Quilts of Valor member.

Airmen who received quilts were U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgts Jason Kreider, 23d Civil Engineer Squadron, Melanie Manley, 820th Base Defense Group, Dallas Bozeman, 820th Combat Operations Squadron, Staff Sgt. Melissa Gschwend, 820th BDG, and Senior Airman Shatavia Wallace, 824th Base Defense Squadron.

As each Airman's name was called, a different quilter presented them their personal quilt with the Air Force seal embedded on it.

"It means a lot to me that we still have folks who care about our wounded warriors and care about our warriors who are fighting for our freedoms," said Kreider, 23d CES explosive ordnance disposal operations superintendent. "It's great to see that there is a way for them to give back to us for what we've done."

Kreider earned his Purple Heart during a mission supporting Marine special operations while deployed to Afghanistan. He sustained injuries when his crew came under attack from rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and small arms fire Sept. 5, 2012, he said. He took pieces of fragmentation in his left leg after an RPG impacted about 50 feet from him.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation first made presentations at Moody in 2008. The quilters were all from parts of the local community including Coolidge, Hahira and Quitman, Ga.

"We make the quilts and rather than send them all over the world, we would prefer to bring them here so we can do a personal presentation, because it's a big privilege for us to be able to actually present the quilt to recipient," Knight said.