Quilts of Valor volunteers present quilt to veteran
World War II veteran Kenneth B. Smith, who lives in a secluded home just off Chelsea with Sue Smith, his wife of nearly 66 years, received a visit and gift from Susan Richmond, a Quilts of Valor volunteer.
Quilts of Valor, Richmond said, is a volunteer organization that originated in Nebraska and started distributing quilts to veterans in 2003. Since then, she said, the organization has awarded 158,000 quilts.
“It’s very exciting to be here,” she said.
The quilt, she said, was made by a local group, Larue Quilters, based in Rogers. They periodically get together, she said, and have something of a potluck. During the four hours they work, she said, they can produce three quilts.
Kenneth Smith, who often goes by his first and middle initial, K.B., said he was happy with the quilt.
“Well, I love my naps,” he said, “so this will turn out well.”
Smith said he served in the Navy. He joined in 1942 at the age of 17. He was in fire control and worked as a range finder and radar operator, he said, on the destroyer USS Satterlee, which supported the landing on Omaha Beach during D-Day. His service lasted until 1946, he said.
“For an old country boy from Nebraska, that was a real experience,” Smith said.
He and his wife have lived in Bella Vista for 19 years, he said, and even going into his 90s, he’s driving himself around and living at home — something he credits to his wife’s excellent care.
He’s currently a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, he said, and he serves on the Honor Guard, helping with military funerals in a 50-mile area around Bella Vista.
“Those old rifles are getting heavier every year,” he said.