Quilts of Valor
On Friday, July 3, as part of the 250th Birthday: A Bagley Celebration, the three-day event that celebrated the United States of America’s Independence, at the Bagley American Legion, Gladys Lueken honored three Clearwater County veterans, who were nominated, to receive their own Quilt of Valor. Lueken, a Clearwater County Resident, member of the of the Headwaters Quilt Guild(HQG) out of Bemidji and authorized Quilts Of Valor representative was the presenter. The guild as a whole, and several individuals are members of the Quilts Of Valor Foundation. She was joined by fellow guild members Bonnie Underdahl and Louise Walker. To date approximately 500 Quilts of Valor have been awarded to Clearwater County veterans, nearly 500,000 nationwide.
Jacob Schmidt
The first recipient honored with a Quilt of Valor was Army veteran Jacob Schmidt “Jake”.
Schmidt enlisted in the United States Army in 2001. After completing basic training at Fort Benning, GA, received his Military Occupational Specialist (MOS 31F) training at Fort Gordon, GA. A “31F” is a network switching systems operator/ maintainer, responsible for maintaining and operating the electronic switching systems that forms the backbone of military communications. She said Jake described his MOS as “AT&T with voice and data networks”. His permanent duty stations were in Germany, in the cities of Darmstadt and Kitzingen. He was deployed to both Operations Iraqi Freedom I in 2003 and Operations Iraqi Freedom III in 2005. In 2006 Jake was discharged with the rank of E5(Sergeant).
During his military career he along with his unit earned the following medals and accommodations; Legion of Merit, Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, and also the Army Commendation Medal. Jake is married and has a daughter. His civilian career is a quality control Manager at Laval industries for the quality inspections in the design and manufacturing of heavy pipe handling equipment for the pipeline, waterline, and utilities industries, among others.
Bonnie Underdahl (HQG) had the honor of wrapping Jake in his quilt.
Tucker Johnson
The next recipient to receive the Quilt of Valor was Duane “Tucker” Johnson. Tucker graduated in 1967. Instead of waiting to be drafted, he enlist soon thereafter. After completing his basic training in San Diego, California, Tucker completed his advanced training in Load Transport at El Toro California Marine base. Load transport refers to the physical and logistical movement of personnel and cargo within the United States Marine Corps. This ranges from basic motor transport operation and external helicopter sling loads to massive scale logistics and amphibious deployment exercises. Tucker did two tours in Vietnam, one 13 months the other 3 months. Upon returning from Vietnam, He was stationed at Buford Marine base in South Carolina until discharge in 1969 with the rank of corporal. He earned the following medals: Vietnam Service Medal and Ribbon, Vietnam Gallantry Cross Medal, Vietnam Defense, Commemorative Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. After his military service Tucker went into construction and soon thereafter own a construction company. He and his wife Margie were owner/operator of Coaches Corner for 20 years. Growing up Tucker was never lonely as he had eight brothers and six sisters. Louise Walker (HQG) was honored to wrap Tucker in his own Quilt of Valor.
Koke Thompson
The third recipient of a Quilt of Valor was Koke Thompson. After graduating from Bagley High School in 1996, Kole wasted no time as he enlisted in the US Air Force. His basic training was completed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. He completed further training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. as a military civil engineer and heavy equipment operator. As a civil engineer, he was part of the construction, maintenance and airfield infrastructure, building and repairing runways as well as weapon systems and participated in emergency response. When deploy his homebase was at Yokota, Japan With temporary duty in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In 2002 he was discharged With the rank of senior airman.
He earned the following: Air Force Achievement Medal with 2 devices, Air Force Training Ribbon, Air Force Overseas Long Tour Ribbon, Small Arms Expert Marksman Ribbon with Device, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with one Device, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, and the Air Force Longevity Service Award.
Kole is married to Yumiko, whom he met in Japan. They have four children. Kole is the owner of Thompson Auto Repair in Solway recently celebrating twenty years in business.
Bonnie Underdahl(HQG) was honored to wrap Kole in his Quilt of Valor.