Editor’s note: Click here to read the career military accomplishments of Major William G. Brackemyer, U. S. Army (Retired.)
A personalized and loving recognition took place at the American Legion Hall, 306 E. Main Street, Morrison, IL, on Veterans Day, Saturday, November 11, 2023. This patriotic event was apropos of significant Nationwide honors to fortunate, living veterans.
Major William G. Brackemyer, U. S. Army (Retired) received a handmade Quilt of Valor®, from Morrison resident and friend, Arlene Dickey. Several family members, Legionnaires, and friends celebrated the occasion. Following tradition, former employer, John Dickey, and mother, Mary Ellen Brackemyer, wrapped the recipient in his quilt.
Dickey told him, “This quilt is an expression of gratitude meant to thank and comfort you. We honor you for leaving all you hold dear to serve, whether in time of crisis or in time of peace. This Quilt of Valor® unequivocally says thank you for your service, sacrifice, and valor in serving our Nation. It is our profound hope, Bill, that this quilt will serve to remind you and others that your sacrifice has not been forgotten. We hope you will use it and display it as a badge of honor and thanks, but also as our acknowledgement of the personal cost of your years of active duty in the military and your current effort on behalf of other veterans. We pray that in some, small way, it will bring you peace and comfort in years to come….Thank you to all the veterans here today. We recognize and appreciate the service and sacrifice of you and millions of Americans.”
Dickey read several pages describing this veteran’s training, achievements, and responsibilities from October 10, 1988, to November 30, 2018. He enlisted as a Combat Engineer and was stationed in Germany. He was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2009. After Active duty until retirement, Bill served in the Illinois National Guard.
Brackemyer family members held the quilt to display its striking design–a variation on the “stars and bars” (the American flag.) Fifteen red, white, and blue “Eight Point Stars” fill the center panel. Left-to-right are sister, Claudia Garcia; wife, Sherry; Brackemyer; mother, Mary Ellen.
Arlene Dickey created this fabric art. She explained, “Bill worked for [her husband] John for 25 or 30 years. I wanted to honor him with a Quilt of Valor®. I decided that, when he retired.”
First, Dickey chose a design and several complementary fabrics. She cut and sewed multiple fabric pieces into blocks of “Eight Point Stars,” some are two or three layers thick. Forty-two red and white rectangles were cut and connected into two, striped, side panels. A solid navy border was stitched to the left and right edges, and the stripes were sewn to it. A wider, starry, blue sashing ( border) trimmed all sides. Finally, a narrow, red fabric was sewn along the starry edges. These labors formed the quilt top.
The back was assembled of cream fabric to match the top in size. This fabric was over-printed with white flags and “STAND UP FOR AMERICA.” A third layer of soft batting was sandwiched between; a plethora of straight pins kept the layers from sliding askew.
The red binding was folded over the raw edges, pinned all around, and stitched to keep the three layers together. This quilt is 60 by 80 inches.
Arlene added, “It was just something I wanted to do for him. It took me a year and a half to do it!”
Ebenezer Reformed Church Quilters created another “layer” of design, by quilting the center panel with white, hand-stitching–through all three layers. Stitches run around squares and create five-pointed stars. Such tedious, but necessary, quilting keeps the batting from bunching. It also increases design appeal.
Every Quilt of Valor® displays a commemorative label, with attribution to the maker and/or quilter(s).
The movement that became Quilts of Valor® Foundation was established in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, a quilter whose son was deployed to Iraq. Since then, more than 359,000 quilts have been presented to U. S. military veterans across the Country, and in Germany, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The mission is to honor service members and veterans, who have been touched by war, with comforting and healing quilts.
The vast majority of Quilts of Valor® are designed with fabrics in red, white, and blue, because “that is the most popular combination.” Even so, that palette comes in a multitude of hues, with countless patterns and textures of fabrics. If one had a bird’s eye view of those 359,000 art pieces–mostly designed in red, white, and blue–each would be seen as unique and beautiful.
Bill Brackemyer is the fourth Morrison American Legion member to receive a Quilt of Valor®. Dennis VanZuiden was awarded his first quilt in “about 2014” from Clinton, IA; a local quilt was presented on November 17, 2018. VanZuiden holds the quilt presented to Ronald Wiersema on April 3, 2019; on September 9 Michael Allen was honored with a quilt.
