Star-Journbal Editor
Wounded U.S. Army Spc. Molly Holub got more than a Quilt of Valor Saturday afternoon at the American Legion Post #366 in Hillsboro.
Legionnaires gave Holub a free post membership, and Hillsboro Mayor Delores Dalke gave her a big, colorful bouquet, along with the thanks of the city.
Holub also received a single, long-stemmed pink rose — a gift so redolent with emotion and meaning that its givers, a Hillsboro couple with a soldier son still fighting in Iraq, couldn't bring themselves to go onstage and give it to her personally.
A rose seemed like a perfect gift for Dan and Paula Perry of Hillsboro to give to Holub. The delicate bloom says we're happy that she's safe at home; but the painful thorns remind us that for others, including their son, there's still a war going on.
Pfc. C.J. Perry, is a member of the 25th Infantry, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Battalion, 27th Regiment.
To say that Pvt. Perry stands in harm's way is an inadequate way to describe his role in the War on Terror, his father said.
"The infantry units are the ones out chasing the bad guys," Dan said. "With C.J. there, we've been worried a ton."
Paula agreed, saying, "When we talk to him on the phone I don't ask C.J. what he's doing because he says, 'Mom don't ask' so I don't. It makes it easier."
Paula is a local participant in the Quilts of Valor program. She called Holub to invite her to attend Saturday's ceremony, where she was given a quilt made in her honor by a bee of quilters in Wichita.
For Paula, who has finished one Quilt of Valor and is working on two more, Holub's ceremony brought to the surface the fearful emotions she constantly feels for her son, she said.
A Special Forces veteran himself, Dan was blinking back tears after posing for a photo with Holub holding the rose following the ceremony.
"I suppose you could tell it was emotional for me," he said. "I knew if I gave it to her, I wouldn't be able to talk."
C.J. has been gone for about two and a half months. He's due home for some R&R in March, but he still has more than nine months left of his tour in Iraq.
To help him cope, Dan plans to get more involved in promoting the Quilts of Valor program. He also plans to join the Legionnaires and he's been thinking about getting a motorcycle so he and his wife can ride together with the Kansas Patriot Guard.
As for Paula, there are the quilts to keep her occupied. But more and more lately, the lure of war news on the Internet is getting too powerful to resist.
"I try not to look at the news, but its like an addiction," she said. "I say, 'I'm not going to look. I'm not going to look.' But I do."
C.J. is stationed out of Hawaii, so Paula logs on to The Hawaii Star-Bulletin every day, because it has the most information about what's going on with his outfit.
She also checks the Army's official web site every day, to see if anyone else has been wounded or killed in the fighting.
"I hate the part when they don't release the names until the next of kin has been notified," she said. "You have to sit there and wait. It's hard. You have it on your mind all the time."
But being upbeat isn't difficult whenever C.J. calls home, Paula said. He can't tell them where he is or what he's been doing, and they don't tell him how much they've been worrying, because, well, with all of the other things he has to think about, he doesn't need to know, she said.
Two and a half months gone.
Nine and a half months to go.
"It's going to be a long year," Paula said. "I'm going to keep busy, making quilts."
