‘These quilts have saved lives’
Lt. Gov.’s aunt, Coast Guard veteran, awarded Quilt of Valor at 100
MIDDLETOWN — Mary R. Stewart, aunt of Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who turned 100 this year, was awarded a Quilt of Valor in a ceremony at City Hall on Thursday.
Stewart was overcome with emotion when her personalized quilt was draped around her at the conclusion. “I’m just overwhelmed,” she said.
The blanked featured a stitched U.S. Coast Guard flag surrounded by strips of patriotic images and the Coast Guard crest.
Stewart served from 1943 to 1946. For two years, she was stationed in Palm Beach, Florida, running training operations. Her final year of service was spent in Washington, D.C., where she worked as the assistant to a Navy admiral.
Her service came during a time when women were not traditionally seen in the military, and she didn’t like how only men had the opportunity to serve. “I was very outspoken,” Stewart said.
After discharge, she obtained a master’s of business administration degree through the G.I. Bill, and went on to become a professor at the University of the Virgin Islands.
It was Bysiewicz that originally reached out to the Quilts of Valor organization to see if they would honor Stewart with a quilt. “I was thrilled because I know she’s very proud of her service,” she said.
Mayor Ben Florsheim attended the event. “It’s something that we always want to celebrate,” he said. “I think we do a good job of walking the walk when it comes to honoring veterans.”
Jane Dougherty, co-coordinator of Connecticut’s chapter, said these blankets help the creators as much as it helps the recipients. “They have a great time,” she said.
This effort is especially important as the suicide rate among veterans is substantially higher than that of non-veterans. “These quilts have saved lives,” Dougherty said.
Stewart’s quilt was handmade by Charles R Larkins, a four-year Vietnam-era veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a volunteer for the Quilts of Valor.
“It’s an honor just to be involved,” Larkins said.
Larkins said he has lost track of how many quilts he has personally made in the four years since he first began working with the organization. He is just one of many veterans that this organization has helped.
The Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003, when founder Catherine Roberts’ son Nat was deployed to Iraq. What began as one mother’s desire to do what she could to make sure her son and his fellow soldiers felt safe and loved has since turned into an international organization that has wrapped nearly 284,000 veterans in personalized quilts often made by other veterans, according to the organization.
On Flag Day, the Connecticut chapter held a large ceremony in Sprague, where they awarded 16 female veterans with personalized quilts.
Anyone can nominate a veteran to be a potential recipient of a quilt by going to the organization’s website at qovf.org.