‘Quilt of Valor’: Five Orangeburg County veterans honored

The veterans honored were:

• Retired U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. E-9 Roosevelt Fischer. Fischer served in combat twice. Fischer was on active duty for over 20 years.

• U.S. Army First Sgt. Arthur Fogle served in combat and was in active duty for more than 20 years.

• U.S. Army Cpl. E-4 Nathaniel Johnson served in combat and two years on active duty. 

• Deceased U.S. Army First Lieutenant Tyrone Gainey. His brother, Bishop Dr. Hayes T. Gainey Jr. received the quilt on behalf of the family. Tyrone Gainey served in special operations combat in Honduras for two tours. Gainey died from disabilities connected to his service in Honduras.

• U.S. Army officer the Rev. Dr. Robert J. Johnson served from 1982-1992. Johnson is the president and founder of Vets Helping Vets Orangeburg County Incorporated. 

The veterans received the quilts during the South Carolina State Conference NAACP’s Annual Convention and Civil Rights Conference held at the North Charleston Marriott.

The quilts were sponsored by the South Carolina State Conference NAACP. The NAACP recognizes veterans annually at its state conference. The organization recognized a total of 10 veterans across the state.

Johnson praised the honor given to the veterans.

“It gives me great pleasure to see the other four members of our organization be recognized for their service in combat for our country,” Johnson said. “This is my greatest desire and appreciation as the leader of this organization to bring credit to their service and for the state NAACP to recognize my effort to bring this recognition to these most deserving soldiers.”

Johnson said the honor is all about recognizing the service of the veterans and especially Vietnam War veterans.

The Quilt of Valor is awarded to a service member or veteran who has been touched by war.

The Quilts of Valor program began in 2003 with a dream by Catherine Roberts, whose son Nat was deployed in Iraq.

In the dream, Roberts saw a young man sitting on the side of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over. There was a feeling of utter despair.

She then saw him wrapped in a quilt. She thought of quilts being a healing balm to veterans.

The first quilts were presented at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Though the quilts can often cost hundreds of dollars to make, they are given freely to veterans.

“Only service members or living veterans of the Armed Forces know what being touched by war means to them: if they have been touched by war or whether they wish to share their experiences,” South Carolina State Chair NAACP Armed Services & Veteran Affairs Committee Kimberly White said, noting service members and veterans may be touched or affected by war in direct and indirect ways, sometimes with long-lasting impacts.

Some of these ways of being touched by war include being engaged in direct combat; providing support and supply to those engaged in battle and being wounded or injured in training for combat or direct support of combat. Only veterans with an honorable, medical or general discharge status are eligible.