Home » Archives » "NCO donates special quilt to fallen Soldiers' scholarship fund"

NCO donates special quilt to fallen Soldiers' scholarship fund

Oct-31-2004 » Filed Under: Tributes

Sally sent me the following story, which might interest some of you working on the Task Force Olympia Memory Quilt.

[Link to Article]

While almost everybody has certain hobbies or activities to stay occupied outside of work, it's not every day that a person can put their skills at that hobby to good use to help out a worthy cause.

Sgt. Nicole S. Smith, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 121st Signal Battalion, however is being given a chance to use her sewing skills to raise money for the 1st Infantry Division Foundation. Smith, a native of Marysville, PA, will be making a quilt, which will benefit 1st Infantry Division Scholarship Foundation for children of Fallen Soldiers.

"I hope it brings enough money to make a sizeable donation," Smith said.

The 1st Infantry Division Foundation is a charitable organization established in 1966 during the Vietnam War. The foundation allowed for funds to be collected both by Big Red One Soldiers in Vietnam and by 1st Infantry Division veterans at home to establish scholarships for children of Big Red One Soldiers killed during that war.

Smith was happy to devote her free time to helping with such a worthy cause.

"I had planned on making a quilt since before I came to Iraq," she said. "I wanted this to be a piece of history and something different; something a Soldier made."

According to Smith, the process of making the quilt took about three months. While she did almost every part of the quilt making, such as the piecing together, cutting, sizing and ironing herself, Smith did receive a helping hand when she needed it.

In addition to the help she received from her mother, who mailed her the fabric, Smith was also aided by several Iraqi nationals who embroidered the names of the unit on the quilt and Soldiers who donated patches for her to sew on the quilt.

"I didn't expect to get so much support from other Soldiers," Smith said. "They really helped out a lot."

The 1st Infantry Division Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt foundation organized as a charitable trust and chartered in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

For more information on the 1st Infantry Division Memorial Quilt please visit the following link: http://memorialquilt.blogspot.com/. Those interested in bidding for the quilt can do so by logging on to www.ebay.com and typing the number 2278625815 in the search block. The auction will begin on November 1.


Comments For "NCO donates special quilt to fallen Soldiers' scholarship fund":

I had a chance to look at some of the signatures on this quilt. Wow! Just about every General and visiting VIP, plus all the many troops passing through. I'd love to see these quilts end up in a museum someday. I can't imagine Sgt. Smith putting this together while in Iraq. What an amazing woman.

Posted by: Annie | November 1, 2004 9:24 PM

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by a site administrator before your comment will appear. We appreciate your patience.)

Advertisements