Mountain Village Quilt Guild presents patriotic quilts to two local veterans

The Mountain Village Quilt Guild has been working diligently on a pair of patriotic-themed quilts, which they recently presented to two Anaconda veterans of the Vietnam War at their monthly meeting at First Presbyterian Church.

John Aspholm, an Army veteran, was the first quilt recipient. He spoke briefly to the guild about his service.

"I was in Vietnam for a year, fixing helicopters and driving trucks. After that I came back and married my wife [Audrey]," he said. "I was in for three years." 

"Three tough years. Thank you for your service," said Maryanne Brugman, quilt guild member. 

The second recipient was Navy veteran Jack Kelly. 

"John and I grew up half a block away from each other. We were childhood friends for years," Kelly said before going on to state that he married his wife Barb in 1969 and was drafted into the Army right afterward, but instead he enlisted in the Navy, serving as a corpsman. After serving out his enlistment, he then joined the reserves – and ultimately was called back into duty for the First Gulf War. 

"I ran a 250-bed hospital in tents in Saudi Arabia," Kelly said, though he said that most of the hospital's patients were soldiers from the Iraqi side who had been forced into action and had surrendered. He also treated bomb-sniffing dogs.

"Thank God it only lasted 100 hours," he said of that war. "I'm proud to say I served, and hopefully I served well. Thank you very much." 

Kelly retired as master chief petty officer, the highest rank attainable for enlisted personnel, and he did have one amusing anecdote to share from his time in the service. 

"I was in the Navy for 34 years and was never aboard a ship," he said. 

The Mountain Village Quilt Guild meets the first Thursday of the month at 11:30 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 319 Main St. in Anaconda.