“Must resist temptation!” I tell myself. But I quickly…
…stroke the tail!
“The lion sleeps tonight”. I hope!
Mmmm! Soft!
I’ve gone a bit too far…
…but my hand is safe! Heck, Dougy likes his tail stroked. It wasn’t that scary to do after all.
=(^+^)=
The Quilt of Valor organization for the Panhandle of Nebraska honored me with a beautifully made (and very comfy!) quilt at Friday’s Class of ’66 monthly get together at the Korner Grill. I was totally caught off guard (as you may note from ny slightly bemused or confused smilish expression in the photo above. Thanks to fellow classmate Dave Deitz for the photo.)
I feel those who served in war zones are more deserving of this sort of thing, and am a bit uncomfortable receiving this considering my three years of service were mostly in Germany in a very comfortable job as a motion picture photographer.
That said, those who chose to show me this consideration have my thanks, but I hope future quilts can go to fellow veterans who endured time in war zones, perhaps were wounded emotionally or physically, and, as I understand the Quilt of Valor organization’s intent, are the men and women the organization wants fellow Americans to recognize for their sacrifice.
That’s a beautiful quilt. I think that anyone who serves is worthy to be honored. A lot of the time it’s luck of the draw who goes into battle and who doesn’t. Besides, it’s time taken from a person’s life to serve their country.
that was a great honour! I bet the boys love to lay on it!
One reason I am hesitant to use it! It is such a nicely constructed and beautiful quilt, it begs to be saved. The people who gave it to me, however, emphasized they wanted me to actually use it.
I guess you either hang it up for display or use it some how,but I understand your hesitation.
It would make a great wall hanging, but I most likely will slowsly get used to the idea of just using it for what it is. I did use it a few days that were unseasonally cool here, and it was very toasty. It may be autumn before it’s cool enough to use it again.
you should get a friend to take a shot of you curled up in your chair with the blanket and send it to the people who gave it to you. They would be rewarded to see you enjoying it as wanted.
Pictures of it wrapped around my shoulders were taken at the presentation. As for the suggestion, I can do that with my smart phone. Good idea!
CONCATS for being honored, Mr. Doug. Now you’ll have a great big comfy quilt that you, Dougy and Andy can cuddle up in together on crispy cool, rainy days. Purr purr purr.
It is very warm and good for a cuddle!
Oh, what a gorgeous quilt – congratulations, Doug!
It is beautifully crafted, too, by a local persaon. She is a very talented quilter! (There are lots of quilters in this area, some work as hobbiests, but several are genuine artists, creating original designs that depict scenes or other things, making them closer to tapestries in scope. Amazing works!)
Totally gorgeous – you are so lucky to have gotten it!
It is very pretty, I agree, and the person who created it is a very talented and professional-level quilter. There’s a largish group of women (men, too?) who quilt in this area, and it includes doing traditional designs or creating tapestry-like free hand designs. I’m amazed at the talent these people show.
Truly amazing!
Love to see a tough vet who also loves his cats (though you downplayed your service). Wonderful photo, the quilt is very special.
It isn’t false modesty. I see that I plac=yed my cards well by talking with the recruiter after I got my letter telling me to report to tjhe induction scenter for processing into the military. By doing that, I found out anbout the delayedf entry program in which the inductee could select three MOS’s (Military Occupational Specialties, I think it is) from all the MOS’s in the service. I selected draftsman, still photographer, and motion picture photographer, in that order. It turned out (once I was in and saw what these entailed) I got the absolutely best of the three possible jobs! The recruiter, a grizzled old Sergearnt First Class, was really excited when it came back I ghot that one. Her said in all the yearts he’d been involved in this business, he’d never got anyone into that specialty. Anyway, under thaty program, the US Army was contracdtually obligated to make sure I was placed in that job or the contract was broken and I could get out of the service. That I studied German at the University of Nebraska probably played a part in me being sent to Germany for most of my time in the US Army. (I was a very poor student at it! LOL! I let them know I was terrible at German at the induction place, but I was, in fact, one of the rare ones in the US Army in Germany who spoke more than a few words of it…) Frankly, I had a great time there. I got to travel around the continent on jobs and personal trips to visit friends in France, see West Berlin during the time it required travelling at night in a train marked “US Army Transportation Corps” on each of the cars in a train pulled by an East German locomotive. It was an adventure in mayny respects, almost like a vacation because of the travel and the fact that US Army motion picture photographers were rare in Europe and we were treated pretty well by officers in the units we were attached to to make films of their operations. At the same time, there were classmates of mione who were recovering from wounds and getting medals for their service in Vietnam. One got a Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously, for actions that involved smothering a hand grenade with his body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_L._Coker
See what I mean? It isn’t false modesty when I say others deserved this recognition and honor much more than I did. Ron was a quiet farm kid, a nice guy. RIP Ronald Coker. It weas a stupid war, but hoinest heros were borne of it.
Gefeliciteerd..Mooie erkenning
Dank je. Ik vind dat het onverdiend was, wat ik uitleg in een antwoord op een andere opmerking.
That is beautiful and you are certainly deserving of it. Thank you for your service.
Please look for the longer response in another comment. Thank you just the same.
Congratulations on the honor, Doug! All the best to you, Dougy and Andy!
The longer response elsewhere in the comments is my response to the recogniotion. It seems like false modesty, I’m sure, but there are people in my age group who are more deserving.
Yes, there are many who were in the thick of combat, and more deserving , but it takes everyone, playing their part, to make the whole of something work. Your body as been a war zone, with the Weggener’s, but you have been an exemplary soldier in that war, and someone I look up to for how you have handled your situation. You are a veteran and you are deserving.
Thanks! Looking up the Quilt Of Valor site, howevcer, tends to support my sense that the intent of the quilts is to thank combat soldiers who suffered wounds, phytsical or mental. I already felt a bit uncomfortable (in past) getting thanks for my service for reasons outlined several places on this page,
Congratulations !
Thank you. Please look for the longer response in the comments for how I feel – and why – about getting this recognition.
I love the quilt, and the expression on your face! I don’t think you should be embarrassed at accepting it. There’s an important role in capturing images for other people to study and enjoy. Congratulations on the honor!
Thank you! Though I am very pleased for the recognition (and the quilt is very professionally done by one local woman – it is flawless and the materials are of the best quality), it still seems undeserved. See my longer response in another comment.
That was really nice to say about the quilt and your time in service. Congrats! Capturing film is helpful too, you caught history 🙂 This made me think of my Dad, I miss his war stories. It really hit me on Memorial Day when someone handed me a little flag while watching the parade that I’d never hear his stories again. He was drafted to Korea in 1958 during “peace time.” I read a few books about the Korean War recently and feel a little silly saying I didn’t know that the Korean War is considered the Forgotten War. My Dad emphasized Vietnam and how the soldiers returning home had it bad so I thought that was the forgotten war. He used to say, “Imagine getting drafted for a war you didn’t believe in, a war that most the country didn’t believe in, and then you come back to booing crowds. It was vicious, and those soldiers were forgotten. Poor kids.”
I can’t resist my cats either. Chewie is an orange tabby with stripes on his back and spots on his yummy. You know I HAVE to poke his spots.
I am well aware of the attraction of those tummy spots on ginger kitties, having had the pleasure of having Louie the ginger kitty for about two years before cand-cer took him.
As for trhe quilt, please see my lonegr response in the comments. While I am pleased to habve this beautiful qiuilt, I still feel it should be given to those who served in war zones and were wounded physically or mentally.
Yes, there are Korean War veterans who definitely deserved this quilt. Many served in WWII and saw war twice in the worst of circumstances and weather. Some were still serving in upper ranks when I was in the US Army (December 1969-November 1972). There are still a few around from the Korean Wart period at least, and almost none left from WWII. Hard to imagine, but we Vietnam era veterans are in our 60s and 70s. Many of us have died already, for that matter.
Congratulations Doug, and thank you for your service. Also thanking you for reminding me of The Lion Sleeps Tonight!
Please see my longer response to the quilt in another comment. Thak you just the same!@ I do feel honored, if a bit confused b=about wwhy I was chosen for it, given my service was in a place 25 years past war that was, by the time I was there, more like a vacation assignment than a duty fulfilled.
Thank you for your service Doug! And thanks for the ear worm too, I remember The Tokens who made that fun song The Lion Sleeps Tonight!
That song – which I find extremely stressful to hear – fit the moment in this post, though it condemned me to a day of hearing it in my brain, of course, to type those words!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_Sleeps_Tonight
As for the quilt, please see my longer response in another comment. I feel uncomfortable acce=ptimng it, and feel the people who gave it to me were well meaning but missed the point of the Quilts Of Valor organization.
https://www.qovf.org/about-qovf/qov-history/
I am so happy, Doug, to see you honored for your three years of service for your country. Congratulations
The photo is perfect . Bravo to the photographer . I think this is to frame .
Dougy is really a peaceful cat when he wants to ! 🙂
In friendship
Michel
Dougy (like most cats!) sleeps a lot, and he is a little angel when he sleeps.
As for the honor, I explain in a longer way how I feels about it in another comment. I am conflicted because I feel the intent of the program is to honor p;eople who served in combat, noit jjust people who served during the time the US was in war. There is a lot of postponed recognition of Vietnam veterans and people who feel bad that they were mistreated when they arrived back in the USA. I personally felt that animosity when I travelled from New Jersey to Ohio when I got out of the US Army. I wore my dress uniform for that leg of the trip home because it helped get me priority on the jet, but the extent of the animosity toward me was dirty looks by some of the people I was around in the airport. I treated myself to a first class ticket for that leg, too, so was treated very well by the stewardess, of course. I didn’t wear the uniform for the Cleveland to Chicago, Chicago to the Quad Cities, Quad Cities to Denver, and Denver to Alliance legs of the journey home, and (even with a military duffle bag and haircut that surely identified me as connected with the military some way or other) didn’t get attitude from anyone the rest of the trip. That all said, I have no love for the 60s or 70s, other than the 1977 Audi I bought in 1977.
I wanted to reply on your post 2101 , Doug , but WP tells me it cannot to be found ! Anyway thanks for your memories of your come back to the US.
It’s back on line, Michel – I took it back to draft format to correct and error I noticed, but forgot to repost it! Thanks for briunging it to my attention.
Incidentally, as a verteran of the US Army, I am upset that a draft dodger (the current president) will represent the US at 75th Anniversary observations of the June 6th 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy. When classmates were being wounded and killed in Vietnam, he was having sex with multiple girls as this contribution to the war effort (by his admission). Sick.