Posted on 05/06/2005 6:42:48 PM PDT by AZHua87
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 5, 2005) -- Debbie Lehman Prohaska wanted to do something to honor her father, who had been Pfc. Harry Lehman when he was severely injured by a landmine during Operation Market Garden in 1944.
“Dad came to me with these patches from uniforms, and said ‘I want you to make a quilt,’” she said. “Mom had quilted – I didn’t know how to quilt, but I told him I’d work it out.”
Her father had given her the shoulder patches from several different units that saw action in World War II. He asked her to make a quilt honoring the Battle of the Bulge.
She decided she needed more patches to complete the quilt.
“I started contacting the Battle of the Bulge veterans organizations,” she said. “These people would send me their uniform patches – some of them had been laying around in ring boxes for 60 years – and I’d add them to the quilt. I got a lot of great stories from these guys who would say ‘Tell your Dad…” and tell me things that had happened to them during the war.”
The quilt was “about 90 percent finished” when Prohaska’s father passed away in February of this year.
“I had to learn to sew and quilt, and I had to research World War II and the Battle of the Bulge to complete Dad’s request,” Prohaska said.
Prohaska said the quilt, which she has named the “Quilt of Love,” is a work in progress, as more and more veterans provide her with additional information.
“I found out this one unit badge was worn so that it is diamond-shaped, not square like I’d guessed, so I’m going to have to reattach it,” she said.
Not everything on the quilt is from World War II. An Air Force patch is included, at her father’s request, because he said the “Air Force” provided such great assistance to his unit during the war, even though it was the Army Air Corps until 1948, after the war’s end.
The quilt also includes qualification badges and some unit badges from Vietnam, simply because veterans sent them to Prohaska.
Among details on the quilt are two panels containing original art work by Hank Stairs, an artist who served with the 30th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge. One depicts an incident Stairs witnessed, in which Nazi soldiers disguised in American uniforms and driving American jeeps were repulsed from a bridge at Stavelot, Belgium. The second is a memorial to World War II artist Bill Mauldin, which shows Mauldin’s famous Soldiers “Willy and Joe” standing over Mauldin’s grave.
On May 4, Prohaska was scheduled to meet a group of World War II veterans at the National World War II Memorial in Washington. Although she eventually met the group, the quilt attracted attention from many of the memorial’s visitors.
“That’s my unit patch, right there, the 87th Infantry,” said Talley Kelley, a Battle of the Bulge veteran. “I was with D Company, the machine gun company. The war ended on my birthday when I was in a shell hole in Czechoslovakia.”
Kelley said only 11 members of his company are still alive. “We keep in touch. I don’t think people realize now just how young we were back then.”
He said the quilt was a great honor to veterans of the battle.
Paul Shambaugh served with naval construction battalion “Seabees” on Eniwetok atoll and Guam during World War II.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s just a wonderful thing,” he said of the quilt.
Spc. Jennifer Hutt of the 902nd Military Intelligence Group was also impressed by Prohaska’s effort.
“I think it’s a tremendous honor to the people who served in that generation,” Hutt said. “I’m very impressed by her pride in her father’s service.”
Prohaska said the quilt has a lot to do before she can display it in her home.
“I’ve already displayed it at the Pentagon, and I think it’s going to be put up at Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) next week.
bump!
Wonderful story, that quilt is priceless.
It's okay. Thanks for the ping. :)
It showed up for me this morning.
NOw am getting a "this page cannot be displayed!" Well drn, guess I'll miss this one!
It's all part of a giant insidious plot. (and they're the worst kind)
One of those "hold my purse" so I can fight the enemy times huh?
It's lovely and very well done especially for a person who never quilted before.
Calpernia, that photo should be twice the size. Hooah! No worries.
I'm in.
Just finished reading.
Grandpa never spoke much about his service.
When he did, he tried to make it funny.
And all his personal treasures from his service, I don't know where they went or where they are.
Wish I knew what his unit was, he honestly didn't speak much about it except as mentioned.
What I do remember was that his mom pressured someone to get him out of the military, and he was massively P.O'd about it.
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"NUTS" =
Capt. HARRY W.O. KINNARD to his Bastogne Commanding General as a suggested reply to the German Ultimatum of Surrender during the Battle of the Bulge.
"GARRY OWEN, Sir" =
General HARRY W.O. KINNARD formed and then led the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) to the 1st Major Battles of the Vietnam War.
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_collection.htm
(Vietnam Photos-General KINNARD is in seen in Photo Collection Set 3 welcoming our U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment to Division Base Camp after our "WE WERE SOLDIERS" Victory at the Battle of the IA DRANG Valley-1965)
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