MINEOLA, Iowa (KMTV) — Veterans received Quilts of Valor during a special musical tribute at the Malvern Country Music Festival, held in Mineola, on Saturday.
Gold Star Mothers of Iowa and Nebraska — mothers whose children have died during military service — presented Iowa veterans with the handmade quilts as a way to honor their service.
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Barbara Yllescas Vorthmann lost her son, Army Ranger Capt. Robert Yllescas, nearly 17 years ago after he was fatally wounded during his third deployment to Afghanistan. Three of Vorthmann's four children served in combat zones. Robert was her oldest.
"We talked on the phone and he said, 'Mom, just pray. I have an uneasy feeling about this,'" she said.
Now, Vorthmann dedicates herself to honoring veterans.
"We cannot give our children a quilt, we cannot wrap them in that blanket of warmth, so we take great pride and comfort in that we can wrap other people with that joy and comfort of a beautiful quilt," Vorthmann said.
Among the recipients was Vietnam veteran, Allen Hall, who served in the Navy. Hall, a Malvern native, said returning service members were not always treated respectfully.
"In that time, depending on where you went, a lot of times people wouldn't be very kind to you, the things they'd yell at you," he said.
Hall is proud of his Navy service and was grateful to receive the quilt. "I'd been hoping that someday, eventually, I'd get one."
Des Moines resident Lori O'Hern was also awarded a quilt. She was in one of the last classes of the Women's Army Corps in 1978 before men and women were integrated and began training together. O'Hern learned the Korean language and worked in intelligence.
"You see so many people from all walks of life and all races. It just made me a more well-rounded person," she said. "I really got a lot of good opportunities."
The Quilts of Valor Foundation has been awarding quilts nationwide for more than 20 years.
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