Veteran 1st Lt. Mary Ann Perkins, a member of Moorestown’s American Legion Post 42, received a Quilt of Valor at her Medford residence on July 23, when she celebrated the momentous occasion with family, friends and post members.
“Back in the days of Vietnam and being a nurse, I cannot imagine, at your age, being over there without any experience,” said Ruth Ann Bosworth, a volunteer for the South Jersey Quilts of Valor Foundation, of Perkins. “We thank you so much for your service, and we’re honored to be able to bring you a Quilt of Valor.”
Perkins served with the 91st Evacuation Squadron in Tuy Hoa, and for the 36th Evacuation Squadron in Vung Tau. She was 17 and in her first year of nursing school when recruiters from both the Army and the Navy spoke at her school. She graduated from a three-year program in 1967 at the age of 20, and from there, attended training in Texas.
Her first assignment was at New Jersey’s Patterson Army Hospital in Eatontown. For her first year, Perkins worked on the men’s medical ward. While on leave in the summer of 1968, she received orders for Vietnam. A few months later, she flew out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on Flying Tiger Airlines with 220 military passengers.
Perkins spent nine months at the 91st Evacuation Squadron before its hospital closed in Tuy Hoa. She still had three months remaining of her tour, so her orders came for the 36th Evacuation Squadron in Vung Tau, where she completed her assignment again on the pre- and post-op units.
“I almost don’t know what to say,” Perkins emphasized at the quilt ceremony. “I want to thank all the ladies that quilted this quilt, it’s beautiful. I want to thank (Post 42 commander) Jack (Gardner). If it weren’t for Jack, none of this would have happened, because we met and bonded.”
The Quilts of Valor Foundation is a wonderful thing, Gardner added, and to witness it is not just a matter of handing off a quilt, but telling a story. While thinking about how to prepare his ceremony remarks, he had a thought: Why do we honor people?
“Why do we single out people and honor them for their achievements?” he asked. “Is it because we want to feel good about ourselves? Is it because we want that person to feel good? I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because of love. It all comes down to love, and the love in all these people’s hearts for you (Perkins) today dear, and the love and the quilt and the handwork that goes into that …
“(Yours) is a very unselfish story …” Gardner added. “It’s one thing to go to war, (but) it was something completely different to be brave enough to go into war.”
Quilts of Valor was founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, whose son Nat was deployed to Iraq. Her dream was vivid, she remembered. She saw a young man sitting on the side of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over. She could see his war demons dragging him down. Then, she saw him wrapped in a quilt. His whole demeanor changed from one of despair to one of hope and well-being.
The quilt had made a dramatic change. The message of her dream was: Quilts equal healing.
Perkins spoke at the Moorestown Library last year. John Lowden, commander of the Capt. James MacFarland American Legion Post 79 in Burlington, was floored by her story and wanted to know more about her. Members of Post 42 connected Lowden with Perkins, and Lowden convinced her to share her story with other veterans who all fell in love with her.
“Mary Ann is one of the most special ladies I’ve ever met in my life,” he related. “… This is something that she deserves, and I’m so glad that this all came to fruition.”
John Lowden, commander of the Capt. James MacFarland American Legion Post 79 in Burlington (left to right); Gene Clark, member of Moorestown’s American Legion Post 42; Quilts of Valor recipient Mary Ann Perkins; Ruth Ann Bosworth, a volunteer for the South Jersey Quilts of Valor Foundation; Jack Gardner, commander of Moorestown’s American Legion Post 42; and Ed Beskin, a member of Post 42, all celebrated Perkins’ quilt.
