Quilting for valor or veterans

Son and father, James Pingleton and Charlie Pingleton were honored with Quilts of Valor.
Son and father, James Pingleton and Charlie Pingleton were honored with Quilts of Valor.

Veterans in civilian clothing walk among Moniteau County residents every day. Often, their service is unknown.

The Quilts of Valor program, started six years ago by the California Women's Club, has helped inform neighbors of the sacrifices of others around them by presenting 105 patriotic quilts to local veterans.

About 70 people gathered at the California Nutrition Center Tuesday to honor the latest 11 veterans. Many of the quilts were finished by the Bookworm Quilting and Sewing Group.

World War II veteran Leo Scrivner will receive his quilt in a private ceremony at the care center in Jefferson City, where he lives currently.

Jack Bowlin served with the 175th Military Police Battalion during the Korean War-era.

Morris Burger served 1953-1964, during what he called the "no-nonsense era" of the Cold War. He worked in atomic support and did a tour in Germany. When he returned to Mid-Missouri, he served three years with the Tipton reserve unit as its commanding officer.

Drafted during the Korean War-era, Robert Keil was trained as an artilleryman and then served as an instructor before being sent to Germany for a tour.

"Nothing ever looked any better to me than the Statue of Liberty," Keil said of his return home from service overseas.

Joe Scallorns left college his sophomore year in the 1950s to enlist in the U.S. Army. He served in army aviation and was sent to Korea. Upon the end of his three-year enlistment, he intended to go back to college. But, he was called back into service before that.

He prepared to deploy to Vietnam, but was discharged before that happened. He later joined the Columbia reserve unit. And for the last 20 years, he has been a supporter of the U.S. Air Force.

"My military service was important to me, as the growth of a young man," Scallorns said.

Robert Lee Cliburn was wounded during his service in Vietnam.

Stanley Elliott served 21 years in the U.S. Army, in artillery and nuclear, being deployed to Korea and Germany.

U.S. Navy veteran Bill McCarthy was deployed twice to southeast Asia, serving on an aircraft carrier. He also served four years as military police in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Charlie Pingleton served in Vietnam. Each year he travels to Washington D.C. to participate in the Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride to the Vietnam Memorial.

Pingleton's son, James, also joined the U.S. Army. He joined a second time, following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and he was deployed to Afghanistan.

Ed Ziegs told people Thursday "you're looking at a miracle."

He was wounded multiple times May 8, 1969, in an assault in Vietnam, where he was serving as a hospital corpsman in the U.S. Navy.

A piece of shrapnel passed through his veins and into his lung. Doctors told him, "you should be dead."

Ziegs attributed his survival to his mother.

"My mother prayed; she held me up before God every morning," he said.

Call 573-796-3794 to donate or to nominate a veteran.