Quilts bring comfort to the wounded

ONSTED — Nothing brings more comfort to a wounded or injured soldier in a war zone than knowing people at home are keeping him or her in their thoughts and prayers. Another source of comfort is being covered with a handmade quilt.

With that in mind, the quilters at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on U.S. 12 in the Irish Hills have created more than 230 quilts that have been sent to wounded troops in Iraq in the past two years. The women consider the quilts to be labors of love.

The local effort began in 2004 when Mike McNally, commander of Onsted American Legion Post 550, read a story on the Soldiers’ Angels Web site about soldiers receiving homemade quilts and blankets. He was touched by the letters from family members and the soldiers who received the quilts distributed through this organization.

“Mike came to us and asked if we had quilts we would be willing to donate,” said Joanne Miller, president of the quilting group.

Periodically, the women let McNally know when they have another load of quilts and he bundles them up to be mailed to Soldiers’ Angels. Burdick and Associates picks up the cost for mailing the quilts.

“The money the post would have used to mail the quilts is donated back to the church so they can keep making them,” McNally said. “It costs about $100 (to mail) 30 quilts.”

Tuesday, 35 more quilts, all twin sized, were bundled up to be shipped to Soldiers’ Angels, which sends them to the 21st TSC, Medical Transient Detachment in Baghdad. The quilts are used to keep soldiers warm on the long trip home, as medevac (medical evacuation) flights are long, uncomfortable and cold.

“We got five thank-you notes from soldiers who received the quilts,” said Barb Pawlowski, one of the group’s founders.

One of the letters, from Maj. Sandi Houlihan, a nurse at the evacuation hospital in Baghdad, said the quilts lifted the spirits of the wounded and the staff. She thanked the quilters for keeping the soldiers in their thoughts.

“It was so thoughtful of you to give so much of your time and effort creating these beautiful quilts,” she wrote. “When we present one of them to a patient, his or her face just lights up.”

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