Quilts of Valor Offered to Honor Veterans

With different events in May, Quilts of Valor is a very personal way to honor veterans. This year the quiet ceremony took place Thursday, May 9th, 2024, at the American Legion Hall, Marlin Moore Post 133 in Palmetto Bay. It was scheduled in recognition of Military Appreciation Month (May) and hosted by members of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) South Florida, in cooperation with the Ocean Waves Quilt Guild of South Florida.

Members of the guild spent months crafting quilts for veterans who served in combat areas. The recipients this year, both of whom served in Afghanistan, were nominated by Irvin Flores, Director, Miami Vet Center. Joyce Cotner, military wife of a career Air Force officer and longtime member of the Guild, chairs the area’s Quilts of Valor Committee and opened the ceremony.

“Quilts of Valor are presented to active and reserve duty military service members and veterans who have been touched by war. The quilts are a lifetime award that have been stitched with love, prayers, and healing thoughts.” As they have in the past, Linda Falls and Barbara Garvine, Quilt of Valor Committee members, presented the quilts. Rene Rondon knew he wasn’t ready to go to college after high school and also knew he needed a life with more structure than how he’d been raised, and a sense of direction. He correctly determined he would find that in the U.S. Marine Corps. Completing his training phases as a Rifleman and Machine Gunner, he was ultimately assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and reported to Camp Pendleton, California.

Deployment to Afghanistan came after only six months and then life took one of those unexpected turns. Out in the provinces, the impact of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) threw him from the truck and his next stop was the hospital and recovery from his wounds. Now a corporal, his unit went on later to Yemen as he transitioned through Japan and back to California.

Awarded a Purple Heart, he kept the memories and values learned and went into private security work after being released from service. College, with a degree in business, was achieved while working full time. Meeting the woman in 2018 whom he would then marry in 2023 marked the kind of life he had envisioned. In thinking of what he had been like in school, he had this to say: “I preach to kids all the time. If you join the military, you will learn something and build experience.”

His wife, Gaelsy, who has her doctorate in Nursing Practice proudly introduced her husband. Her closing comment was, “His commitment to duty shone brightly – thank you for your dedication and service.” “This is an honor to receive,” he said in thanks.

James Carles, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, was originally from New York. His family moved to Florida when he was eight years old. Relatives were in New York on the tragic day of 9/11, although they did escape unharmed. With a double degree in International Relations and Geography, he was an asset as a teacher. In joining the Navy in 2004, he served in two hazardous/combat zones. He was aboard the USS Bradly in 2011 in Libya in support of the strategic “Lily Pad operations”.

He transferred to the Navy Reserves in 2013 and in 2020, he was boots on the ground in Kabul, Afghanistan with Special Operations Command (SOCOM) serving as an advisor in logistics to Afghan Special Forces. After completing service in 2023, he now teaches at South Dade Senior High School. Jorge Martinez of the Miami Vet Center, where both recipients received support, spoke of Carles’ service and how he carries that forward. “He continues to mold young people as a teacher. He is dedicated to building bridges, not divisiveness.”

For Carles and his wife, Dulce Martinez, whose parents brought her from Havana at age seven, military service is a good option for many students. “I tell them to know their goals, what they want to get out of it, and that it will be the biggest challenge of their lives.” In receiving his quilt, his thanks were straightforward. “Pride and hope is my mantra. This means a lot to me.”

Joyce Cotner closed the formal part of the program with this sentiment behind the craftwork. “This is a lifetime award stitched with love, prayers, and healing thoughts.” She also presented a quilt to Martinez for the Vet Center and all they do for veterans. Quilts of Valor is a national organization established in 2003 which local organizations join in with to create and distribute quilts.

“Our Mission: to cover Service Members and Veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.” To learn more about Quilts of Valor, go to www.QOVF.org or write to QOVF, PO Box 191, Winterset, IA 50273. To learn more about the Miami Guild, go to https://www.ocean wavesquilters.com/.