Bio: Olin, James -  Receives Quilt of Valor (2021)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Olin, Reynolds, Sanderson, Demaree

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 3/10/2021

Olin Receives Quilt of Valor (2021)



James Olin of rural Neillsville shows the quilt and certificate he received from the
Quilts of Valor Foundation in recognition of his military service
Valerie Brecht/Clark County Press

By Valerie Brecht

Clark County veteran James Olin was recently recognized for his military service in a tangible way.

Olin who lives southeast of Neillsville near Shortville, received a handmade patriotic quilt from the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

“It’s to recognize all veterans, whether they served in war or not,” said Pauline (Reynolds) Sanderson, who nominated Olin to receive a quilt.

Olin recently decided to reconnect with several of his high school classmates after almost 64 years. He graduated from high school in Grangeville, ID in 1957. There were 17 people in his graduating class. Sanderson was one of the people that Olin contacted.

Sanderson is a volunteer quilter for Quilts of Valor. During the course of her conversation with Olin, she found out that he had served in the Navy.

“She asked if I wanted a quilt and I said, ‘Yeah, I’d be interested.’ Within two weeks I got my quilt,” said Olin.

Olin entered the service in 1957 and spent six years in the military, four of which were on active duty. He completed boot camp in San Diego, CA, and machinist training, in Waukegan, IL. After that, he spent three years aboard a naval destroyer. He served n the USS Cone (DD-866), which was named after Rear Admiral Hutch I. Cone and was the flagship for its group of destroyers.

Olin served as a machinist’s mate, second class. His job was to run the after main engines. He also maintained and repaired ship equipment.

Olin traveled to a variety of places while aboard the USS Cone.

“We were in the Mediterranean three or four times and the Caribbean four or five times. We went up by England and Wales once,” said Olin.

Stateside, the destroyer docked in New York, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.

In 1961, Olin returned to land. He was on inactive reserve for two years before being discharged in September 1963.

Around 1962 or 1963, Olin moved to the Midwest. He has lived in Wisconsin most of the time since then, but also spent a couple years in Illinois. He worked as a machinist for Wiza Industries in Muskego, a Milwaukee Suburb, for 35 years. He retired in 2002 and has lived at his current place since 2004. He and his wife, Geraldine, have been married for over 54 years.

Sanderson was happy to get the ball rolling on getting Olin a quilt. She has been very involved in the Quilts of Valor organization herself, helping to put together 25 or 26 quilts over the years. Five of those were awarded to her own family members. She is the wife of a veteran, sister of two veterans, niece of a veteran and mother of one. She understands the sacrifices that military members and their families have to make. A Quilt of Valor is one way to express gratitude, she said.

“It’s a community award thanking the veteran for their service,” she said.

The quilt request that Sanderson made was acted upon by Karen Demaree, who served as the Wisconsin Quilts of Valor state coordinator. Each request is put into a tracking system. Quilts are awarded in the order they are received, but other factors are also taken into consideration, such as the era of service and medical or debilitating conditions related to the service. Each quilt is carefully handcrafted.

“It’s because of their service to our country; it’s not a charity quilt,” Demaree said. “Our primary focus is honoring veterans.”

Several people were involved in putting Olin’s quilt. It was made in Madison, quilted by a person in Milwaukee and had the binding put on in Platteville. There are 13 or 14 groups in Wisconsin that work on quilts, said Demaree.

“Here in Wisconsin, we are lucky that way. Some states have a backlog of requests,” she said.

Once the quilt is ready, “it’s our job to get it awarded or find a volunteer that lives nearby,” said Demaree.

The Marshfield volunteer that would normally deliver quilts in central Wisconsin is currently unable to do so, so Demaree made the trek from Platteville Feb. 27 to deliver the quilt. Each quilt is awarded, not mailed. Olin also received a certificate and a pin in honor of his service.

Olin was appreciative of the quilt and the work that went into it.

“It’s a good quilt,” he said.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation began with one woman’s dream in 2003. Founder Catherine Roberts had a son deployed n Iraq at the time. In her dream, she saw a young man sitting awake on the edge of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over in despair with his war demons haunting him. Then the dream changed to a new scene and she saw the young man wrapped in a quilt, his whole demeanor changed to one of hope. When she awoke, Roberts knew she had to take action. She ended up awarding the first quilt to a soldier at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland and saw her dream play out in real time.

Since then, the organization has expanded to a movement of over 10,000 volunteers in al 50 states. There have been more than 250,000 quilts awarded throughout the U.S. and overseas. Quilts of Valor groups have even been started in Canada, Australia and Great Britain.

The Wisconsin Quilts of Valor Foundation awards between 500 and 700 quilts a year.

“Most people have that favorite quilt that grandma made and gave to them. That’s kind of the idea behind it. Quilts provide comfort, no matter where they came from,” said Demaree.

For more information or to nominate a veteran for a quilt, go to govf.org.
 

 

 


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