Twelve veterans from the Montgomery County area were honored at a Quilts of Valor ceremony on the morning of Sept. 18 at the Montgomery County Senior Center for their service in the military.

Jesse Bourne, Jim Bourne, Jr., Kenny Finke, Gary Harris, Raymond Hollensteiner, Paul Johnson, Gerald Oden, Frank and JoAnn Schlanker, Dean Tate, Dave Wojtkiewicz and Leroy Wright were awarded quilts during the one-hour event.

Harris said he enjoyed being honored on his birthday. The Wellsville resident turned 80 years old.

“It was quite a deal,” Harris said.

Harris served in the U.S. Army from 1966-1968, completed basic training in Washington State and earned several honors including a Vietnam Campaign medal and a Vietnam Service medal.

Two of the veterans – Jesse Bourne and Jim Bourne, Jr. – are related to Senior Center Director Amy Bourne. Jesse is Amy’s husband and Jim is her father-in-law.

Amy Bourne said her mother-in-law, Crystal Wood, helped arrange the ceremony. She is one of the workers at the Veterans Coffee Talk event that is held at the Auxvasse Community Building every Tuesday.

“I told her that I wanted to start it here, so she came to help me,” Amy said. “She volunteers for me here to do it. She kind of runs it for me because I get called away all of the time for the center. She heads it for me. We’re very invested in letting them know how important they are.”

Several members from the Mid-Missouri Quilts of Valor group were in attendance, including Molly Aust, Kathy Dempsey, Debbie Duermeyer, Connie Richards and Jessica Vaughn. Dempsey was the emcee.

Quilts of Valor meets monthly at Satin Stitches in Columbia. It was founded in 2003 by a quilter named Katherine Roberts after she experienced a bad dream when her son was serving in the Iraq War. Over 454,000 quilts have been awarded since the organization began 23 years ago.

“This quilt is not a gift,” Dempsey said. “It is awarded to veterans and our mission is to honor veterans and service members who have taken the oath and served in the U.S. military.”

During the presentation, each of the veterans look at the quilt they are given. Then, Richards and Aust wrap the quilt around each of the veterans’ shoulders.
Jesse Bourne was the first veteran to be recognized. He served in the Missouri National Guard from 1999-2001.

Jim Bourne, Jr. was the third veteran to be recognized. He served in the U.S. Army from 1979-1999.

Wojtkiewicz, who is now the VFW Post 4436 Commander, served in the Army from 1984-1996.

The Schlankers both served in the Air Force from the mid-1970s until 1994. JoAnn completed basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and worked in Virginia, New Jersey, Oklahoma, California and Germany. Frank worked in Virginia and California and served one year in the Gulf War.

Johnson was a member of the Army from 1968-1970. Following basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, he was sent to Louisiana to get ready for Vietnam, where he served from April 1969-Feb. 1970.

Oden, who is from Gamma, served in the Army from 1965-67. He was stationed at Fort Wainwright at Anchorage, Alaska during that time.
Hollensteiner, who is from Montgomery City, served in the U.S. Army from 1965-67. He was honorably discharged after earning a E4 ranking.

Tate, who is also from Montgomery City, served in the U.S. Navy from 1963-66 and completed basic training in San Diego, Calif.

Finke served in the U.S. Army from 1962-64 and Wright was a member of the Army from 1961-63.

Also, eight veterans were awarded Vietnam Veterans pins. They were Finke, Hollensteiner, Harris, Oden, Johnson, Tate, Wright and Frank Schlanker. The pins are given to veterans who served in the military during the period of Nov. 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975.