Members of Bravo Battery, 2^nd Battalion, 263^rd Air Defense Artillery of the South Carolina National Guard, who returned in August from a 10-month deployment to the Middle East, were each given a Quilt of Valor by members of a local Quilts of Valor group and the Upcountry Quilters Guild. Presentations were made at the Easley Armory on Saturday, November 22, 2025 to all but a few who were unable to attend.

Captain Chris Campion expressed appreciation to the quilters for their gifts of love. “Thank you so much for this,” he said. “I don’t even know the words to describe this. From the bottom of my heart, I can’t say how much I appreciate your time and your sacrifice and your belief in all of us coming home and using this as an opportunity to say thank you for what we’ve done.

“I can’t wait to share this quilt with my family. I hope one day it will not only hold my wife but my children and my grandchildren. So, truly, thank you for what you’ve done and your belief that we would come home safe and that you recognize the sacrifice these soldiers make and their families have made. The first 10 months of my marriage was this deployment and to think that strangers to me and my wife would have thought so highly of us to take the time to recognize the sacrifices we make — we truly thank you.”

Beth Eastman, Pickens/Oconee Quilts of Valor Coordinator, spoke to the soldiers before the presentations, explaining the beginning of the national Quilts of Valor Foundation. “The Quilts of Valor started in 2003,” she said. “Catherine Roberts’ son was in Iraq. She had this dream one night about him sitting on the bed, just really in the dumps, because he was over there and wasn’t with family. Her next part of her dream was making him a quilt. And she did. She made him a quilt, and she shipped it to him. That was the first. It was not a Quilt of Valor, because Quilts of Valor did not exist at the time. The first Quilt of Valor was given to a guy in Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) in 2003. He was a soldier from Minnesota who had lost his leg. Quilts of Valor was originally for guys who came back injured or with PTSD.” She explained that now a Quilt of Valor is given to any member of the military who has been touched by war. As of October 31, she said, 427,121 quilts have been given nationwide.

The quilts, she said, “are given with our hearts. And we thank you for your service and sacrifice in serving our nation.

“We make these quilts,” she continued. “There’s a specific range they have to be made. They’re different sizes, and there are very few that look anything like the others. Some have panels; some don’t.  It costs about $250, or a little better than that now, to make a quilt, and we’re totally non-profit. We sew at Dacusville. As of today, we have made 781 quilts.

“Upcountry Quilters Guild was asked to help us. A lot of us are members of that guild, anyway.

“On behalf of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, in recognition of your service and sacrifice for this nation, it is a privilege to serve honor and comfort upon you through the award of this Quilt of Valor. Though we may never know the depth of your sacrifice to protect and defend the United States of America, as a gesture of gratitude of a grateful nation, we award you this quilt.”

As each name was called, each soldier came forward and was presented his or her Quilt of Valor.

After the presentations, Captain Campion told the soldiers, “I couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of you.” He added, “Strangers you didn’t even know cared this much about us to spend their time making something special for each and every one of you. Please treat it with the utmost respect and care. I hope this provides you a lot of warmth and your family a lot of warmth for many years to come.”

He told the quilters, “It’s truly something special. I can’t say thank you enough for what you’ve done for us and the support you’ve given us. Thank you.”

Glenn Kimbrell, of the National Guard, also thanked the quilters for their gifts to the soldiers. “I know they’re very appreciative, and I am, too,” he said. “Thank you so much for your time. That’s a very, very special gift that they’ll think about for a really, really long time. So, I really want to thank you for that.”