Star-Journbal Editor
Wounded Army Spc. Molly Holub will receive a symbol of comfort and warmth from a nationwide bee of grateful quilters in a public ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday at American Legion Post #366, 405 Floral Drive, Hillsboro.
Holub, 20, of Marion, who was wounded in a roadside bombing in Iraq, will be given a quilt stitched in her honor by the Quilt of Valor Foundation.
As of this week the group had awarded 6,458 quilts to soldiers wounded in the War on Terror, mostly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Local Quilt of Valor quilter Paula Perry of Hillsboro felt honored when she called Holub to invite her to the ceremony.
"She's a nice little young lady," Perry said. "I told her there hadn't been a quilt available when she was in the hospital, but we had one now.
"She said, 'Oh, yes!' and that she would be here, but I don't think she really knows all about Quilts of Valor."
Perry said she found out about the foundation in June at the Wichita quilt show.
Since then, she has finished one quilt and is working on two more. She hopes to attract other local quilters to the national bee, which in its mission statement states, "This foundation is not about politics. It's about people."
Holub's face was struck by shrapnel from the roadside bomb blast. She suffered facial fractures and her left eye was surgically removed.
She returned home to Marion Sept. 24 to a hero's welcome, where she said, "I'm not happy to lose an eye. But after being at Walter Reed [Hospital] I feel lucky it was something I can adjust to. I met people injured so much worse than me."
The U.S. Army Specialist served as a military police officer in Iraq and wants to return to active duty. She signed on for five years and planned to make it her career. An Army medical board will review her request.
Katy Vickers of Wichita started a Quilts of Valor bee there in November 2004 when the national group was founded. The quilt to be awarded to Holub was made in Vickers' bee, and she will attend the ceremony, but won't make the presentation.
"I know I would tear-up too badly," Vickers said.
