Quilts of Valor, Courage awarded

At the annual Veterans Appreciation Supper hosted by the Clarke County Veterans Affairs Commission, three local veterans were awarded Quilts of Valor - Sherry Halls, Lyle Persels and Larry Noftsger. A Quilt of Courage was given to Anita Foland.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation was created in 2003 by Catherine Roberts of Delaware. Initially, the quilts were awarded to service members who were injured or suffered from PTSD from fighting in the Middle East. In 2009, it expanded to include any service member or veteran, no matter when or where they had served. More than 394,000 quilts have been awarded across the United States, Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan. The quilts stand as a “tangible comfort,” to thank veterans for their service, sacrifice and valor, recognizing their fulfillment of their duties.

Halls

Halls graduated from Mormon Trail High School and attended AIB College in Des Moines for two years. She worked at Iowa Methodist Medical Center until she enlisted in the United States Air Force in August 1987, at the Des Moines MEPS. Halls attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and was assigned to Chanute Base in Illinois. There, she trained as an AirCrew Life Support Technician for two months.

From December 1987 to 1989, Halls was assigned to a duty station at Misawa Air Base in Japan. She was next assigned to Hahn Air Base in Germany from January 1990 to September 1991. In September 1991, Halls was transferred to Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she stayed until July 1998. Her following assignment was one year at Osan Air Force Base in Korea. She was then sent to Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, from 1999 to December 2006. Halls’ final assignment was Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Halls retired March 8, 2008, as a Master Sergeant E-7. She has been a business owner in Osceola since July 2008 and owns Earth Angels on the south side of the downtown square.

A special memory of Halls’ service was being part of a joint task force - full accounting - that sent her to Vietnam to investigate military crash sites for remains of United States military members and the success she had in doing that.

Halls’ quilt was pieced and quilted by Linda Fuller Hewitt.

Persels

An Osceola native, Persels entered the United States Navy November 1952 as a Naval Aviation Cadet; he trained at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida. He was commissioned as an Ensign, USNR and designated a Naval Aviator in June 1954.

Persels was assigned to Air Anti-Submarine Squadron 25 in San Diego, and went on a far east cruise aboard escort carrier USS Point Cruz until January 1956. From 1956 to 1959, Persels was a flight instructor in Kingsville, Texas. He was assigned to a duty station in Naples, Italy, for two years, where he served in a fleet service squadron that serviced aircraft carriers who operated in the Mediterranean with transport and logistics support. Two years - 1961 to 1963 - were spent on assignment to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where Persels received a bachelor’s in naval science in August 1963. He received additional training in aviation safety and accident investigation.

Other duty stations for Persels included:

- Air Anti-Submarine Squadron 29 and far east cruise aboard USS Kearsarge from 1963-1966

Midway Island 1966-1967.

- Training of Squadron 3 at Naval Air Station in Milton, Florida.

- Staff of Chief at Naval Air Basic Training Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida - Persels received a Meritorious Service medal.

- Ferry Squadron 31 at Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia.

- Training Squadron 31 at Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas. He also served as executive officer then commanding officer. The squadron received the Admiral Goldthwaite Award and trained and designated the first female aviator in the history of military aviation.

- From 1974-1977, chief of staff of Naval Air Advanced Training and earned a master’s degree in management and human relations.

In October 1977, Persels retired after 25 years of service with the rank of Commander. He returned to Osceola with his family and worked as president of Iowa Assemblies, a Group Dekko company, managing the operations of six Iowa plants as well as plants in Texas, Alabama and Mexico. He served as Osceola mayor from 1982 to 1985 and has been active in the Clarke County Development Corporation and the Osceola Airport Commission.

Persels’ quilt was pieced and quilted by Fuller Hewitt.

Noftsger

Noftsger was inducted into the United States Army on April 18, 1963, at Fort Des Moines. Despite going to his army physical with a letter from his eye doctor stating he was blind in his right eye, Noftsger was informed he was a warm body and was needed to make the weekly quota. He attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and was assigned to the 11th Corp. in St. Louis, Missouri. There, he trained as a personnel specialist for two months.

Following training, Noftsger was assigned as a floater for one year in a control group. When a letter from General McNamara informed Noftsger that he needed to be attached to a unit, he joined Reserve Unit 312 Quartermaster of Fort Des Moines. Noftsger was discharged from the army at Fort Des Moines on March 27, 1969, with a rank of E-4, Specialist 4th Class. He was employed at Sutherland Lumberyard in Des Moines following his service.

Noftsger’s quilt pieced by Mary Ann Smith and quilted by Mary Boswell

Foland

Foland grew up on a farm near Grand River, and graduated from Murray High School. After high school, she attended the University of Iowa, graduating in 1969 with a degree in parks and recreation. She obtained employment as a civilian employee with the Department of Defense. Her first assignment was to Vietnam, where she spent 15 months.

The United States Army has its own morale support activities and recreational centers for enlisted personnel and their families. Foland was assigned to two bases in the Delta region, as one of two women on base. There were daily program activities for those stationed there that Foland helped to operate in recreation centers. At Christmas, the GIs would make toys for the orphanages from tin cans and boxes.

After her assignment in Vietnam, Foland continued to work for the Department of Defense. She spent nine years in Germany, a little over a year in Korea and a year in Hawaii, where she continued to support service men and women.

In 1991, Foland returned home to Iowa and was hired as the Clarke County Conservation director, a position she held until 2013.

Foland’s quilt was pieced by Sandy Eddy and quilted by Boswell. She was awarded a Quilt of Courage for her work as a contract employee in the Department of Defense and her assignment in Vietnam as well as the assignments over the following 13 years.

Nominate a veteran

Quilts of Valor’s mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. Veterans can be nominated at www.QOVF.org/Nominations-Awards

In order to receive a quilt, veterans have to not have already received one, and have to be willing to receive one - they cannot be surprised with one.