Friends and family gathered in the foyer of the Grand Central Plaza with one purpose, to recognize Albert “Jack” Fiedler’s service to the U.S.
The former Army corporal with the 839th Engineering Air Battalion was honored Wednesday, June 3 with a Quilt of Valor for his service during the Korean War. Fiedler said his battalion were responsible for building the airstrip in Korea.
Jill Corr of Port Wing, a member of the Ashland Guild of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, presented Fiedler with the quilt made by his younger sister, Patty Becker of North Dakota.
For Fielder, the owner of the former Jack’s Auto Repair in South Superior, receiving the quilt meant a lot to him. Tears rolled down his cheeks as Corr unfurled the homemade quilt his sister made.
“I’m sorry I kind of broke down a little bit,” he said.
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Becker nominated her older brother to receive the quilt through the Quilts of Valor Foundation. The foundation's mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing quilts, according to its website.
The Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003 when Catherine Roberts’ son was deployed in Iraq. She had a dream one night about a young man sitting in bed, hopeless. Then the image switched to one where the young man was wrapped in a quilt.
“The message of my dream was: Quilts=Healing," Roberts wrote on the organization's website.
Roberts wanted the quilts to be quality, “the civilian equivalent of a Purple Heart,” Corr said. “The quilts would be awarded and not just passed out like magazines. This quilt would say unequivocally, ‘Thank you for your service, your sacrifice and your valor in serving our country.’”
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Corr said the first quilt was awarded in November 2003 at Walter Reed Medical Center to a soldier from Minnesota. More than 300,000 have been awarded since then. Quilters throughout the U.S. volunteer their time and donate materials to make them for veterans.
“A Quilt of Valor is priceless — it can never be bought,” Corr said. “It is a thank you from all of us for your service and sacrifice.”
Ryan Jost of the Richard I. Bong American Legion Post said receiving a quilt can be quite emotional, and he teared up when he received one. The local post has awarded 57 quilts made by area quilters.
Linda Ford of Superior started donating quilts and now finishes the quilts by adding the batting and backing to quilts made by other volunteers.
She got involved in 2003 because three generations of her family have served: her husband in Vietnam, two sons in Desert Storm, and a granddaughter and grandson in Iraq.
“We do this to thank them for their service and their sacrifice,” Ford said.
