Quilters blanket country in hope

A Valley Springs woman has seen far too many soldiers come home from war in a coffin not to do something for those who do not.

Gail Belmont, 57, is a U.S. Army veteran herself. Her role during the Vietnam War: to play “Taps” in a military band for the funerals of men and women killed in action in Southeast Asia.
 

“I saw what happened during ’Nam,” Belmont said. “I didn’t want these guys to be forgotten.”

Fast forward more than three decades and American soldiers are again returning home from a war on the Asian continent that is not popular with the American public.

Belmont is no longer on duty at the funerals of those who come back draped in a flag. Her contribution today is for the soldiers who were wounded — perhaps physically, perhaps psychologically — after tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Belmont, who underwent numerous leg surgeries in past years, found that going to work on her parents’ quilting machine helped ease some of the lingering pain in her lower limbs. The very day she learned about the Quilts of Valor Foundation in January 2005, she began to combine her new-found passion with an older one.

“I said, ‘That’s it! I’m helping,’ ” Belmont said. “As long as I can quilt, we won’t stop.”

 She has not stopped.

“I feel like it’s a duty and an honor,” Belmont said.

The mission of the QOV Foundation is to cover every injured service member coming back from the Middle East with a “wartime quilt made by wartime quilters,” according to the group’s Web site.

The tradition dates back as far as when “Civil War families made quilts as bed rolls for soldiers,” Belmont said.

For those who perished in the performance of their duties, “they were buried in that quilt,” she said.

Her involvement with the QOVF sent Belmont on a cross-country journey last month, collecting a total of 1,354 quilts to award to Marines who came back to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C. from a tour in Afghanistan.

Traveling with her parents, Robert, a Marine veteran, and Virgina Belmont, also of Valley Springs, Gail made stops in Salt Lake City, Boulder, Colo., Lincoln, Neb., Kansas City and Warrenton, Mo. and Knoxville, Tenn., to collect quilts before meeting up with other groups in North Carolina traveling from the Northeast.    

“As we went along, we gained momentum because America heard about us,” Belmont said.   

In Nebraska, a family who heard about the effort at the last minute, “was still stitching as fast as they could to get (one) done,” Belmont said.

The outpouring of support on the 12-day round-trip journey touched her. There were official police escorts in some cities along the way, she said.    

“It was very patriotic,” Belmont said. “It was nice to see because you just don’t see that in America much anymore. It was quite an adventure.”

Belmont’s first quilt pickup came before she ever left, gathering quilts made by the 30 members of the Independence Hall Quilters in Arnold and 10 more from the Valley Springs group, Loose Threads.

Loose Threads also includes members from Mokelumne Hill, Mountain Ranch and Amador County.

Lt. Col. David Odom, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, had contacted the QOVF to request quilts for his battle-weary Marines, who have seen a great deal of heavy combat in recent years.

Sentiments from appreciative Marines keep coming in to the men and women who stitched their quilts for them.

“I wanted to let you know that I speak for all the Marines in my platoon when I say we are very appreciative for the work you and your friends put into these amazing quilts,” wrote Lance Cpl. Andrew Carpenter. “As you walk through the barracks, your quilts and hundreds more like it are lining the racks of the Marines in 3rd battalion, 8th Marines. We can’t tell you how much it means that you dedicate your time in order to show appreciation for us. I hope this letter shows you the appreciation we have for you.”

The quilts are special because they come from ordinary Americans, Belmont said.

“They get these and they know they didn’t come from the government,” she said. “An American who really cares, from the bottom of their heart, put their time and love into it. That can mean the world to them.”