Quilts of Valor awarded to 15 recipients

By Robert Williams

Editor

Lions members from Frazee, Vergas, Wolf Lake and the 4-Corners Clubs hosted the seventh annual Veterans Appreciation Dinner Program on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at a jam packed Frazee Event Center.

Vergas Lion Dennis Breitzman again served as emcee and provided plenty of laughs with his ever-growing collection of armed forces jokes. Breitzman spreads his humor around all of the branches and provides a generous helping of levity that balances out the sometimes somber or respectful tones of the ceremony.

An example, “In the latrine there was a Navy Officer and a Marine Corps private,” Breitzman said. “They both got done doing what they were doing and the Navy Officer went over to wash his hands. The Marine was just leaving; he went to the door. The Officer stopped him and said, ‘Marine, don’t they teach you how to wash your hands? At the Academy, we have hygiene classes. We learn how to wash our hands and we for sure wash our hands after we go to the restroom. Don’t they teach you that? The Marine said, ‘No Sir. They just told us not to pee on our fingers.”

High School Band Director Brian Selander and the school band provided a medley of service songs, including the newest branch Space Force.

Keynote speaker and Head Trainer Paula Anderson, along with clients and board members of Patriot Assistance Dogs (PAD) in Detroit Lakes described the positive aspects of how dogs help veterans cope with returning from deployment, along with providing solace to those suffering from depression and substance abuse. Anderson and speakers Phil Krabbe and Tony Carothers each took the stage with a service dog.

Patriot Assistance Dogs has been in operation since 2011 and provides service dogs to veterans free of charge. Anderson reported 70-80 percent of the dogs used are rescues as well.

“We promise both the dog and the veteran a life of dignity and respect and we see this magic piece of part of the wellness, but not the only answer. We see the magic of a rescue dog and a veteran who become one service dog team and that is pretty amazing,” she said.

Krabbe recognized the veterans and emphasized the recognition of spouses and partners of veterans.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your service and your sacrifice, your unconditional love, because without you it would be impossible to go on, so thank you,” he said.

Krabbe, an eight-year Marine combat veteran, shared his personal story of recovery having been with his service dog for the past 2.5 years. 

He did three deployments to Iraq and related a story from his final deployment in 2006 when he witnessed the vehicle in front of him explode with six of his Marines in the vehicle.

“I was the platoon sergeant and I felt responsible,” he said. “When I came home I didn’t have any tools to cope with that.”

Krabbe related how he began drinking heavily for 15 years and found himself moving onto amphetamines to deal with his nightmares.

“My nightmares were very vivid; they were very real,” he said. “I could smell cordite; I could smell diesel fuel; that’s how real they were and I was having them every single night.”

Krabbe was terrified to sleep at night and used drugs to stay away for three to four days straight and he would then sleep for 24 hours and do the whole process again.

“Your body can only take so much before it says enough,” he said.

Krabbe attempted suicide.

“What saved me that night is I didn’t want my seven-year-old son to find me dead in my kitchen,” he said.

He checked into the VA and began what he said was a long road to recovery, one of which he has continued and been sober for four years.

“Programs like Patriot Assistance Dogs gave me my life back,” he said.

Tony Carothers, an Air Force veteran, spoke about an active shooter situation at his base hospital that ended with 73 shots fired, six dead and 22 wounded.

“The base was never the same again and to this day I sweat just thinking about flying,” he said.

The incident also changed Carothers’ feelings on hospitals and how they are no longer places of healing.

Carothers and others were beginning to heal with an air show coming up the following weekend, something everyone on the base looked forward to attending.

He was watching the show’s practice with his daughter when a tanker and a bomber were involved in an accident and the bomber crashed.

“It just went up in a fireball,” he said. “When that bird went down the engines made a noise that still gives me nightmares and terrors to this day.”

Carothers’ service ended with a broken back, which caused him to have to be in hospitals often. He said going to hospitals is a “different experience with a service dog.”

“It’s easier; the anxiety attacks don’t come so hard,” he said. “I just discovered PAD three-and-a-half years ago and my world is 1,000 times better and another 1,000 times better when I see veterans get their lives back.”

Janelle Lotzer introduced the quilters: Mary Ann Strauch, Barb Gietzen, Deb Larsen, Linda Johnson, Barb Gerold, Mary Ditterich, LuAnn Carow, and Pam Krieg.

“We all work together doing little pieces of the puzzle,” Lotzer said.

Lotzer gave a history of the national organization Quilts of Valor, founded in 2003, prior to introducing the 15 veterans to be honored during the Quilts of Valor Award ceremony: 

• Art Sazama served in the U.S. Army from 1967-69 during the Vietnam era. He served in Thailand 14 months as a truck driver and delivered food to all the bases.

• George Belka served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam era from 1971-75. He was deployed to the Philippines from 1973-75. His duties were crypto maintenance.

• Wayne Vossler served in the U.S. Army and National Guard from 1983-2004. He was deployed to Germany from 1983-84. His duties were multi-channel communications equipment operator. 

• Randall Burrows served in the Vietnam era from 1964-68. He was stationed in Vietnam as a Navy Seal.

• Cecil Hensel served in the Air Force and National Guard from 1981-2010. He was deployed to England for two years. His duties were weapons system operator and pilot.

• Patrick Murphy served in the U.S. Army from 1969-71. He served in the infantry branch and motor battalion in Vietnam where he received a Purple Heart. 

• Gerald Widmer served in the U.S. Army from 1951-53. His duty was infantry in the Korean conflict.

• Theodore Wenner served in the U.S. Army from 1961-63 during the Vietnam era. He was deployed to Germany and his duties were signal corp to keep communications open.

• John Lien served in the U.S. Navy from 1965-69 during the Vietnam era. He was a shipboard electrician.

• Pastor Gary Rehborg served in the U.S. Army from 1968-71. He served as a cook during the Vietnam era. 

• Vernon Greenwaldt served in the U.S. Army from 1971-73 in the Vietnam era. He was stationed in Germany as a Hawk Missile crewman and a crew chief.

• Merel Kvam served in the U.S. Navy from 1980-84 deployed to Beirut. He worked in the engine room with turbo and propulsion. Kvam received the Navy’s Expeditionary medal.

• Jerry Thurman served in the U.S. Air Force and Reserves from 1980-2007. He served in Desert Storm and flew an AC-130 gunship. He was in Special Operations prior to that assignment. In the Reserves, he was a full-time technician. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross medal.  

• Larry Bolstad served in the U.S. Army from 1967-89. After severe hearing loss at Fort Riley, he was transferred as a recruiting officer for returning Vietnam vets to join the National Guard. He received the Meritorious Service award and Rifle M-16 Expert qualifications badge.

• Michael Hamann served in the U.S. Navy from 1972-74 during the Vietnam era. He served as a periodontist treating veterans with dental issues and gum disease.

Those who wish to nominate a veteran for next year’s ceremony can do so online at www.qovf.org/ 

The evening concluded with Lyle Krieg giving an update on the ever-changing Veterans Memorial Park in Vergas. 

Next year’s Veterans Appreciation Dinner and Quilts of Valor ceremony will be held Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2025.