Quilts of Valor honors 11 area veterans in New Hartford

NEW HARTFORD – The Quilts of Valor Foundation offered comfort and healing to 11 area veterans during a Sunday afternoon ceremony at the New Hartford Veterans’ Memorial.

The New Hartford American Legion assisted in the ceremony that honored veterans from the New Hartford, Dike, and Parkersburg areas. The North Central Iowa QoVF group presided over the event and helped drape the quilts onto the shoulders of the veterans.

The honorees and their eras of service were LaVern Becker, Korea; Larry Bass, Robert North, Mark Youngberg, Michael Luck, Tom Ambrose, Dale Huberg, and LaVern D. Holm, Vietnam; Chad Mackie, Rick Wagner, Lucas Shull, Iraq/Afghanistan.

Photos: Quilts of Valor Ceremony

The Quilts of Valor Foundation has awarded over 300,000 quilts as of July 31, 2022, and more than 15,000 quilts this year alone.

The group started in 2003 when founder Catherine Roberts was inspired by a dream of her son Nat, who was deployed in Iraq at the time. She brought the dream of a quilt comforting her son in her dream to life. The first quilt was awarded in November 2003 to a young soldier from Minnesota who was at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Pastor Chan Gok Kim of the United Methodist Church offered prayer to open and close the service. There was also a color guard presentation and “The Star-Spangled Banner” sung by Alta Swab.

Profiles of Quilts of Valor Recipients

Sergeant Lucas Shull, New Hartford, served in the United States Marine Corps from 2006-2014. Lucas had his basic training at Paris Island, South Carolina. Duty stations include; Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow, California. Lucas was in the Mounted Color Guard that presented colors at various events around the country including the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade and the 2007 Kentucky Derby. Lucas spent time at the Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina where he was a CH53-E Flight line mechanic. Lucas was deployed to Afghanistan twice, once in 2011 and once in 2013 where he repaired CH53 helicopters.

Major Dale Huberg, New Hartford, served in the United States Army from 1961-1982. Duty stations were: Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Carson, Colorado; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Dale was commissioned at Fort Benning, Georgia; Okinawa, Japan. He returned to Fort Carson, Colorado and was discharged from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Sergeant Larry L. Bass, New Hartford, served in the United States Army from 1969-1970. Larry had his basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Larry spent 6 weeks at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana for financial clerk training. Larry was next sent to Fort Riley, Kansas before deployment to Vietnam. Larry was part of MP transportation while in Vietnam. Larry received the Expert Marksman, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and National Defense Medal.

Corporal LaVern Becker, New Hartford, served in the United States Army from 1951-1952. Becker had his basic training at Fort Riley, Kansas. Becker was deployed to Seoul, Korea where he served as a rifleman with the infantry. Becker received the Combat Infantry Badge and the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War medal in appreciation.

Staff Sergeant LaVern D. Holm, Parkersburg, served in the United States Air Force from 1968-1972. Holm had his basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas and tech school for Morse Intercept Operator at Keesler AFB Biloxi, Mississippi. Holm's first duty station was at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas where his job was to monitor all air traffic in western China. Prior to going to Vietnam, Holm was sent for Airborne Radio Operators school at Goodfellow ARB in San Angelo, Texas, Parachute school at Sherman AFB in Sherman, Texas, Air Force Survival School at Fairchild ARB in Spokane, Washington, and Jungle survival school at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Holm was stationed at Da Nang Air Base in Vietnam where he flew 126 combat missions. His responsibility was to locate enemy radio signals and use direction finding to pinpoint the location of the target, listen to callsigns to identify, copy and decode. Holm ended his military time at Kelly AFB where he monitored radio traffic from a Soviet missile station. Holm received the Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Air Medal with 3 Oak leaf clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Staff Sergeant Robert North, Dike, served in the United States Army from 1969-1970 and the Iowa National Guard from 1985-2004. Robert had his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and truck driver training at Fort Lewis, Washington. Robert's responsibility in Vietnam was vehicle driver for the 25th Infantry in Dau Tieng and Duty driver for the 24th Evac Hospital in Long Biên. During his time in the guard Robert was sent to Egypt in 2003 as a peacekeeping force, Robert received the Vietnam service medal and Army Commendation medal.

Sergeant Mark Youngberg, Parkersburg served in the United States Army from 1969-1971. He had his basic and AIT training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Mark served as a Machine Gunner while in Vietnam. Mark received the Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Medal, Marksmanship Badge and Combat Infantry Badge as well as 2 Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star with Valor.

Staff Sergeant Richard Wagner, Dike, entered the United States Reserves in 1992. Richard had his basic and AIT training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Richard transferred to the National Guard and served in the 1133rd transportation company until his retirement in 2013. Richard was sent to Iraq from 2003-2004 and again from 2008-2009. Richard's reasonability was driving semi truck for delivery and gun truck for gun support. Richard received the Army Commendation medal times 3, the Meritorious Service medal, and the Order of Saint Christopher - the patron saint of transportation.

Corporal Michael Luck, New Hartford, served in the United States Army from 1969-1970. Mike had his basic and advanced training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Mike was sent to Vietnam and served with the infantry completing regular missions of search and destroy, going on ambush. Mike was shot twice, once in the chest, and once in the hip. Upon return from Vietnam, Mike served in the motor pool at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri then the 13th supply battalion in Wurzburg, Germany before discharge. Mike summarized his time in Vietnam as "I knew there were a lot of heroes the night I was shot. Six out of twelve men were killed." Mike received the Purple Heart and Letter of Commendation.

Corporal Thomas Ambrose, New Hartford, served in the United States Marine Corps from 1966-1969. Tom had his basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. After basic, Tom received training in Map and Aerial Photo reading, and Operations against Guerilla warfare. Tom received advanced training at Camp Pendleton, California for land mine warfare, explosives, and demolitions as well as training on the M-60 machine gun. Tom was assigned to the USS Canberra, the only US Naval vessel to be named in honor of a foreign warship and with the name of a foreign capital city. While on ship, in Vietnam, Tom served as a Marine Attachment, was a forward observer for Naval gun fire and air support. Tom's 2nd tour to Vietnam was also on the USS Canberra that provided support in liberating the USS Pueblo from North Korea in 1967. After his return from Vietnam, Tom was schooled in corrections/handling of prisoners, Marine NCO, and Military Civil Disturbance and Disasters. Tom received the Good Conduct Medal, Rifle-Sharp Shooter and Pistol-Expert Shooter medals, Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Meritorious Unit commendation, Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation, Gallantry Cross Color with palm and ribbon bar, Korean Defense Service Medal, and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Korea.

Lieutenant Colonel Chad Mackie, Cedar Falls, served in the United States Army from 2002-2021. Chad had his basic and AIT training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Chad completed courses in Officer Candidate and Chaplain basic officer leadership. Chad completed his Masters in Chaplaincy at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Chad was deployed to Afghanistan 2010-2011. Chad summarizes his deployment as follows: "Deployment to Afghanistan was different for everyone, the one common struggle for our soldiers was worrying about things back home, meanwhile being ready for the mission, each and every day. After deployment the memories never stop, some good, some bad, some nightmares. We lost soldiers over in that country and we lost more than we should have when we got back home. It changes you. There is help. There is hope, Keep reaching out. Keep loving and be kind.”