News : Quilts of Valor Honor Area Veterans in Different Ways

Bonnie and Marv Rohlena present a Quilt of Valor in honor of their son Steven to Timothy Handley

There are some events that I could cover every day and I think they'd give me goosebumps each time.  One of those would be the Quilts of Valor ceremony. 

On a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, I found the premises at Cedar Memorial brimming with families who came to see their special veteran be honored with their very own quilt.  On this Sunday, 12 veterans were honored with quilts lovingly created for them.

Vinton's Rita Moore presented her 55th quilt at the ceremony, not that she'd want a mention, but her dedication to the project should be noted.

A touching presentation was given by Bonnie Rohlena with her husband Marvin by her side. As Bonnie shared her story, it was felt throughout the room.

Her son Steven, a 1983 Benton Community graduate who went on to serve as a career Army Officer, was an Army Colonel and had planned to retire as he neared his 30th year in the military. Bonnie was trying to find something that she could do to honor his service. She said that he had two songs that were his favorite, one was the Lee Greenwood song, "God Bless The U.S.A." which is always sung at the Quilts of Valor ceremony's and the other song was, "When the Stars and Stripes and the Eagles Fly," by Aaron Tippin.

While shopping in a fabric store she happened to see a fabric panel with an eagle on it and felt like it would fit Stephen perfectly, so she bought the panel and put it away since she wasn't ready to start on the project just yet.

Steven returned home in mid-July of 2014 after being deployed back to the states. Little did the family know that he wouldn't make that 30 year mark of service, passing away on July 30th a few days after returning stateside. As an audible gasp filled the room, Bonnie went on to tell of an incident on the farm that nudged her to dig the eagle panel out and begin sewing.

There was a building site on their farm and on the site, her husband Marv saw what he thought was a skunk. As the two watched they saw the "skunk" spread its wings and realized that it was an eagle. Bonnie said she felt like it was Steven saying, "Mom, get busy make that quilt" so she said that's what she did.

She created the quilt meeting the Quilt of Valor requirements so that it could honor another veteran. The quilt was given to Timothy Handley, a veteran who had served in Desert Shield, Somalia and Haiti in honor of Steven Rohlena. As he received the quilt he said he felt like he didn't deserve it.

Bonnie stepped in and said, "Tim, you've already fulfilled your service, freedom is not free, you missed out on a lot of things. We hope this quilt will give you comfort, you will always be in our thoughts." 

You can read about all of Steven's accomplishments here he was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery, in Washington D.C. with military rights and honor.

Click to view photos