PORT TOWNSEND — Valkyrie Ferguson served as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy, caring for her fellow service members from the West Coast to the East Coast.
She met her husband-to-be, Jon “Doc” Ferguson, when they both were stationed in Oakland, Calif.
Forty years later, Valkyrie was nominated to receive a Quilt of Valor — but “I wasn’t sure how I felt about it,” she said in an interview Tuesday morning.
As Doc’s spouse, she’d considered herself a dependent more than a veteran. He had served 14 years; she for three before becoming a mother and raising their two children.
Doc firmly believed Valkyrie should receive this gift. He contacted the local chapter of Quilts of Valor and watched his wife receive her personalized quilt on Jan. 26.
“They are a thank-you,” said Kathey Bates, an organizer of the Quilts of Valor sewing day, open to quilters and visitors from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the American Legion hall, 209 Monroe St.
Bates herself is part of a military couple; she’s also a quilter who can finish a 60-by-80-inch creation — “a generous lap quilt” — in about two weeks.
Along with the Quilts of Valor group, Bates urges people who want to see a quilt awarded to a veteran to request one at www.qovf.org/nominations- awards/, and to contact her with questions at 1katheybates@gmail.com or 360-316-9798.
Anyone may nominate any veteran, she noted, and there’s never a cost to the requester or the recipient.
On Saturday, Bates and crew will welcome not only quilters — with their sewing machines and notions — but also people who want to see what Quilts of Valor can look like.
Just as each veteran has a different life story, these quilts vary — and all are made for healing and comfort.
The local chapter is part of the national Quilts of Valor Foundation, which is holding sewing days all over the country on Saturday.
At the American Legion, the group will provide kits with patterns and fabric, Bates said. Quilters can pick them up to take home, or stay and sew.
“We have a large folder of fairly straightforward and simple quilt patterns. And we provide cutting tools … We just have a good time,” said Bates, who got into this nationwide effort 13 years ago.
“With COVID, we sit in a circle, at a big ring of tables, one person per table,” she said, adding everyone must wear masks.
“We also display the quilts … so it’s kind of a miniature quilt show,” Bates added.
Since 2015, the local chapter has awarded about 600 quilts in both Clallam and Jefferson counties, including one to Doc Ferguson in June 2020.
In his work as a disabled veteran employment specialist for the state of Washington, Doc helps vets with barriers — homelessness, post-traumatic stress and other issues — navigate housing, employment and veterans’ benefits.
Doc himself enlisted in 1979, a month after his 18th birthday, intent on sailing the seven seas. The military was also a ticket away from a childhood of poverty and abuse; serving “was my first exposure to a family type unit,” he said. Trained to perform combat trauma medicine, his primary mission was as a helicopter-borne combat search and rescue specialist.
Yet receiving a Quilt of Valor was not an easy thing.
“I’ve never been one to promote myself. I spent a lot of time pushing that kind of attention away,” Doc said.
When he was given the quilt, it did feel good. Doc was photographed that day with his best friend John Kernan, a fellow veteran.
Doc was the nominator for his wife’s Quilt of Valor, even though “she kind of balked at it,” he said.
Just as Doc did, Valkyrie had raised her hand and sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, he said. Both sacrificed much during and after their time in the military. Each supported the other as they moved around the country.
When her quilt arrived, Valkyrie still felt mixed emotions. But when she was presented with it and the details of her time in service were read aloud, the tears came.
“Things flashed before my eyes,” from the hospital wards where she served. Then, Valkyrie thought: “Maybe I do deserve this. Maybe I should love and appreciate this gift.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
Doc Ferguson of Port Townsend, left, alongside his friend John Kernan, received a Quilts of Valor quilt in mid-2020. The local Quilts of Valor chapter will have a sewing day this Saturday at Port Townsend’s American Legion hall. (photo by Chris Bates)
