Kirk Boxleitner

kboxleitner@ptleader.com

Of the nearly two dozen veterans who were wrapped in Quilts of Valor during the Veterans Day ceremony at the Port Townsend American Legion, two were particularly emotional.

“I saw a lot of things in Vietnam that were very ugly,” said retired Army 1st Lt. Hans van Naerssen, a combat engineer who was awarded the Bronze Star. “Over time, I overcame my personal situation, but this recognition gave me chills. It didn’t bring back memories so much as it brought up old emotions.”

Van Naerssen already had received his quilt before the Nov. 11 ceremony, but he asked if he could take part nonetheless.

Van Naerssen effusively expressed his gratitude toward the women who sewed and presented his quilt to him, noting the reception he received when he returned from Vietnam was nowhere near as welcoming.

“It’s a whole different culture and atmosphere now,” van Naerssen said as he acknowledged, “I’m lucky to be alive.”

Marilyn Joanne Wells served in the Navy, but she accepted her quilt on behalf of two other veterans — her fiancé, who was killed before they could get married, and his father, who died in World War II.

“His name was Fredrick Pierce Webb, and he was his father’s only son, so he didn’t have to go,” Wells said. “He was in college, and very intelligent. He joined the service, unbeknownst to me, and I found out he was dead from a letter.”

When Wells’ quilt was draped over her shoulders, she said it felt like “his arms were around me.”

Kathey Bates informed ceremony attendees that the national Quilts of Valor nonprofit organization has sewn and presented more than 200,000 quilts to veterans, with at least 400 coming from the Jefferson County chapter since 2015.

“Just think of each quilt as a permanent hug from us,” Bates said.

This year, those recipients also included Jefferson County Quilts of Valor member Nancy McDaniel, who served in the Air Force, and Army veteran Charles Thomas Sr., the recently elected commander of Port Townsend American Legion Post 26.

Other veterans who received quilts included, from the Army, Christina Brinch, Chuck Brown, Allan Cook, Phillip Henry, Dan Hill, Bill Mallory, Richard Daniel Purnell, Z. Jack Randall and James Reid; from the Navy, W. Robert Albright, Casey Cassian, Brian Cullen, Alphonse “Al” Gawle, Garland R. Goesch and Raymond Waddell; and from the Marine Corps, Tracy “Joe” Hedrick and Robert “Bob” Spychalski. Randall and Spychalski also served in the Air Force.

Chet Boutillier was the only Coast Guard recipient of a quilt, as well as the only Coast Guard veteran in attendance. Bates teased Boutillier about still fitting into his dress uniform, but he simply chalked it up to good genes.

Miles Vokurka, conductor of the Port Townsend Summer Band, led the musicians through the rest of the ceremony, but in the wake of the quilts being presented, he turned over his baton to Karl Back, conductor emeritus of the band, so he could lead them in a piece composed in honor of those veterans, whose years of service extended from World War II through Afghanistan.