West Haven Veteran Moe Armstrong Receives ‘Quilt Of Valor’

WEST HAVEN, CT — (Pictured): Sisters Aili McKeen and Rebecca Perrone of Quilts of Valor hold up and present their handmade “log cabin” quilt to West Haven Vietnam veteran Moe Armstrong, left, at City Hall on Friday.

With Armstrong for the presentation is, from left, wife Heidi Peternell Armstrong, West Haven Municipal Veterans Rep. Rich Deso, the president of Surfside Veterans, and Mayor Dorinda Borer.

McKeen, Perrone and members of the Wallingford Grange group of Quilts of Valor meet in the grange hall every other Monday to make queen-size quilts for combat veterans, said McKeen, the group’s leader.

The eight-member Wallingford group was established in January and is part of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, an Iowa-based nonprofit organization that provides handmade quilts to service members and veterans affected by war as a symbol of gratitude. The quilts meet specific criteria and are awarded, not gifted, according to the foundation.

Since Quilts of Valor’s founding 21 years ago, nearly 400,000 service members and veterans have received comforting and healing quilts, lovingly made by local quilters.

Armstrong served as a Marine Corps corpsman in the Vietnam War. During his two-year deployment starting in June 1963, he carried out several acts of valor, for which he has been decorated.

Years later, Armstrong’s commitment to his fellow veterans brought him to serve once again, this time working in peer support for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, crisscrossing the country to help veterans in wellness and recovery.

“For this and more, I am proud to wrap this quilt around Moe’s shoulders — shoulders that have carried more than their fair share — and hope that it brings him comfort and healing,” McKeen said.

West Haven Vietnam veteran Moe Armstrong, joined by wife Heidi Peternell Armstrong, is wrapped in a queen-size “log cabin” quilt made by the eight-member Wallingford Grange group of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, an Iowa-based nonprofit organization that provides handmade quilts to service members and veterans affected by war as a symbol of gratitude. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)