3 veterans receive Quilts of Valor for service in Vietnam

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    BREVARD, NC (WLOS ) — Sept. 11 is a day Americans honor and remember those who lost their lives during the attacks on our country in New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon in 2001.

The Blue Ridge Chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation held a remembrance ceremony Friday morning in front of the historic courthouse in downtown Brevard. The chapter also awarded three handmade Quilts of Valor to veterans in honor of their service in the Vietnam War.

Chapter spokesperson Didi Salvatierra said Sept. 11, Patriots Day, is the perfect time to honor veterans for their service. Salvatierra said the founder of Quilts of Valor, Catherine Roberts, started Quilts of Valor in 2003 after her son was deployed to Iraq to fight terrorism.

Navy veteran Walt Walter said it was humbling to receive a quilt on the same day so many patriots lost their lives 19 years ago. Walter spent 22 years flying all types of Naval aircraft, including four years in Vietnam and four years in the Antarctic.

“I’m proud of the country, the way they reacted to it at the time and the people that ran in to the towers and saved people and gave their lives. That is something I always think about,” Walter said.

Also honored were Vietnam veterans Flynn Trimnal and Joe Sansosti.

“The day I turned 18, I was on a plane to Vietnam,” Trimnal said.

Trimnal was a Marine Corps combat engineer on underground search and destroy missions. He earned three Purple Hearts while serving overseas.

Sansosti joined the Marine Corps and arrived in Vietnam in December 1967. During the battle of Dai Do, Sansosti’s unit with less than 1,000 men fought a division of 10,000 regular North Vietnamese Army soldiers. Sansosti was shot in the thigh and sprayed with shrapnel, but he returned to combat after his wounds healed.

If you want to nominate a veteran for a Quilt of Valor, visit quiltofvalorfoundation.org and fill out the online form.

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