Quilt Poem

Agent Orange Vet's

In Vietnam Veteran Jerry Strait’s Words

“When I went to Vietnam,” says Jerry Strait, “I took my chances. I was a soldier and I knew what to expect. There was always the possibility that I would be killed or wounded, but I didn’t think my children would ever be a casualty of the war. And maybe its too late for me, the damage has been done and whatever happens just happens. But I still wonder about our future generations. What about all the kids who didn’t have anything to say about all of this? The chemical companies insist its all a “legal issue”. But I think putting something into the air and water that will maim future generations isn’t a matter of law. It’s a moral issue. Am I bitter about Vietnam? No, but I am bitter about the spraying and about what happened to Lori. To tell you the truth, I would go back if they asked me. I think most of my friends feel that way. But we want some answers about this thing, and we keep asking how the government can get answers if it doesn’t ask questions.”

(Jerry Strait’s daughter Lori remains a handicapped child after the attention of nearly 45 therapists and doctors, several stays in the hospital and many thousands of dollars in medical expenses.)

In Vietnam Veteran Ray Clark’s Words

“I don’t need the money,” he says. “Money isn’t going to do me any good. What I really want to see is the money used to create a government agency, or should I say governing agency, that would stop them from experimenting with radiation and herbicides. I don’t care about winning millions of dollars. My health, which is the most important thing a person can have, is gone now. It’s all in my past. I just don’t want the same thing to happen to my children that has happened to me. I volunteered for the military, and through some quirk of fate I got sent to Vietnam, but once I got there I didn’t have any choice about being subjected to herbicides and other dangerous chemicals. And I resent that. I want the system changed so that we’re not guinea pigs, and so we don’t let the government, or anyone else, do this again. Every time I walk into the Veteran’s Hospital in Syracuse, I see this quote from President Lincoln: We Shall Take Care Of The Widow’s And Children Of Those Who Served. Well…they’re not! They have completely forgotten about us. I think they’re just waiting for us all to die, and then someone can say, ‘Oh dear! Maybe we did make a mistake with this Agent Orange.’ At the rate things are going they won’t have to wait very long.”

In Vietnam Veteran Richard McKechan's Words

As a result of contact with Agent Orange I have contracted Diabetes Mellitus Type 2, Coronary artery

Disease, and Peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage) in

three limbs (V/A denied the fourth limb) were combined for an 80% disability compensation granted by the

Department of Veterans Affairs because the ailments were finally found to be service connected due to the United States military’s use of Agent Orange in the republic of

Viet Nam. God only knows what else that stuff is doing to me now as I write. I’ll no doubt find out when the next ailment creeps up and attacks me.

They sprayed the herbicide on and around every fire

base that my artillery battery was on, personnel

included. Helicopters would fly over, soak us and everything else with the chemical. The insects

would swarm so bad that you could hardly see.

Even then I wondered what that

stuff was doing to us if it was irritating the bugs that bad.

The ailments that it has caused in me have radically changed my life. It still amazes me that after all the near misses and close calls, that my own government did more damage to me than the enemy did. That, I think is what really pisses me off the most.

The Agent Orange Quilt of Tears,

Is a trail of tears that travels far and wide,

It tells the tale of betrayal,

Of a government who lied.

The patches of our lives unfold,

Upon this Quilt of Tears.

As soldiers lay down their lives once more,

And their children live in fear.

Each stitch is sewn with sorrow,

Each patch is joined with pain,

As the families mourn the losses,

Of loves never seen again.

The Agent Orange Quilt of Tears,

Is just a symbol of our love,

It is an earthly reminder,

Of our heroes both here and up above.

Each tear we shed is colored,

By the anguish that we feel,

Every inch of cloth that's sewn,

Allows our hearts to heal.

As I gaze upon this quilt today,

The image of death is altered.

I see instead the symbol of life,

For heroes who never faltered.

As a soldiers immortality,

Lies in his loved ones eyes,

And as long as he's remembered,

Our true hero never dies.

Our poem graciously written by Chris Woolnough 5/13/05

Saturday, July 16th, 2005

Del City, Oklahoma

~~~~~~~~

It never ceases to amaze me, every single time that we are on a display with The "Quilt Of Tears" something unique happens that stands out & sticks in my mind or perhaps a better phrase would be sticks in my heart.

On this particular trip in July while in Del City, Oklahoma it was a daughter named Audrey searching for a place to memoralize her

father & his story. It was getting late & it had been a long,

extremely hot day...

I was getting ready to give in & call it a day when a young couple

with a baby walked into the Quilt display. They were holding a big

piece of posterboard??? They walked up to me & asked if they could place it in our tent. The picture above is of the posterboard they held

in their hands! They said that they believed that they had found the right "Wall" for their father....

I'm not exactly sure...I think that they were going to leave their poster

at The Wall & then by chance perhaps found us there with The Agent Orange "Quilt Of Tears". My memory fogged a bit as I was left speechless by their statement & the feeling of honor as I took their fathers' poster & hung in it proudly in our tent amongst the rest

of our heroes there....Audrey found the right "Wall" for her father

that evening because we were there with The "Quilt Of Tears". Many heroes names are etched in granite, marble or concrete on national memorials but Audrey's fathers' never will be....

It broke my heart to tell her that but as I hugged her I reassured

her that her father will always represented with the pride, honor & dignity that he deserves among the other heroes on The Agent

Orange "Quilt Of Tears".

I'll never forget that evening in Del City, it will always be etched in my heart as a unique memory of a special moment in time that I had the honor of being there for.

Audrey is making a regular Quilt block for The Quilts but somehow, no matter how beautiful it may be it will never replace the one handed

to me that evening in Del City, OK. I'll join the regular Quilt block with the others into The Quilts but I know I'll always have the posterboard one that was the original one given to me that July evening.