Monday, September 7, 2009

Peace is Patriotic


This is my patriotic quilt called "Peace is Patriotic. It will be traveling the world for the next three years supporting our troops. It is published in a book called "Thanking Our Troops" by Judy Howard. It was created in honor of my father.

About the quilt:
PEACE IS PATRIOTIC
"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to building up of one another." Romans 14:19

The symbols on the quilt are as follows: the hand represents God; the dove is the Holy Spirit descending upon us; the Sun, Earth, and Moon are the heavenly array; the stars represent God's children listening to the quotes radiating into heaven.

Soldier Picture: My Father
George Kenneth Sites, 1st Lieutenant, Korea, 1343rd Engineering Combat Battalion

The story that goes with the quilt:

As a child, I loved waving to the military caravans that seemed to cross the U.S. more then than they do now. The soldiers were always happy to wave back to a fair-haired piggy tailed girl.

My love affair with soldiers began with my father. He served in the Korean War from December 1952 to April 1954. He left for Korea still a newlywed who had just graduated from college as an Agricultural Engineer. His career and family - both on the horizon were now on hold.

He was in the 1343rd Engineering Combat Battalion located within eight miles from the frontline. I hear sadness in his voice when he refers to the Korean War as the forgotten war. He does not talk much about the war, except for funny stories about the Corp. of Engineers. He mentioned that any obstacles that the Corp. came across while building roads or bridges could be solved with dynamite.

I am glad he made it home safely, so he could start a family and that I could be born. He retired from USDA Soil Conservation Service, where he often applied his life skills on the job – but probably used less dynamite. (smile) We like to refer to him as a "dam engineer" (check spelling), because his job was often designing dams for retention ponds and lakes in Oklahoma.

The quotes that radiate from the center of the quilt:

"There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which … is within the souls of men." -- Black Elk

"We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom." Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy...." Thomas Jefferson

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind…." John F. Kennedy

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive
at that goal." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." -- Mother Teresa

"For it isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." Eleanor Roosevelt

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations on a beautiful, meaningful creation! You've done a terrific job, and we are so proud of you! Peggy

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  2. Thank you Peggy. It was fun to work on - but sad to let it go. Tim says he misses it. I worked on it in the evenings while we watched TV together.

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