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The Cotton Rose Quilters Guild is a group of local women who love to quilt.

The quilters held their first meeting on August, 15, 2000. Twenty-four years later, and countless stitches in time, the Cotton Rose Quilters have continued to make quilts that bring warmth and caring to others.

The Cotton Rose Quilters have made quilts for family members, friends and others who would find comfort in the warmth of caring hands and, also, never to be forgotten, America’s patriots.

“Our  veterans have made, and continue to make, personal sacrifices so that we, as Americans, can live in the land of the free and home of the brave,” said Liz Petty, event emcee, adding that the members of the Guild hold a special place in each of their hearts for all Veterans.

On Tuesday night,  the Cotton Rose Quilters showed their appreciation and their love by presenting five veterans with the love and warmth of handmade quilts.

Colonel John K. Faircloth, Jr. is retired from the United States Marine Corp. He served for 27 years from October 1988 to October 31, 2015.

He served as a pilot in the CH-53E, CH-53-D, VH-3D and VH-60N. He served as the Presidential Helicopter Pilot for Marine One and also commanded the HMX-1 Presidential Helicopter Squadron. He served three combat tours in 2001, 2003 and 2008.

Bobby Hatfield enlisted in the United States Air force shortly after graduation from high school in 1959. He attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. His first assignment was Robins Air Force Base from 1960 to 1961. He worked in support of B-52 Bombers for the Strategic Air Command. His second assignment was in Sidi Slimane, Morocco, from 1961 to 1962. His release from his duty station was delayed in 1962 duty to the Cuban Missile Crisis. His last assignment was in Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.1989

Master Sergeant Kenneth D. Lewis served our nation for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant in July 2007. Lewis served in three Air Force career paths – Aircraft Nuclear Weapons Security, Base Police Law Enforcement and Global Positioning Satellite Systems Operator. His duty stations included the Royal Air Force Base in Upper Heyford, England; Kunsan Air Base 95, South Korea, AFB, McConnell AFB. His deployments included Desert Storm, USAFE Security, Task Force Bravo Special Forces the Bosnian Conflict and the Missile Warning System in Desert Storm. Notable events include upgrades in the Cheyanne Mountain.

CW4  Steven  Whitaker served in the United States Army for 35 years from January 1987 until September 2022. He served as a Blackhawk helicopter instructor pilot with four deployments: one to Honduras, and three to Iraq. He additionally served in several disaster relief efforts in the United States to include Hurricane Katrina.  Whitaker was awarded three combat air medals and two humanitarian relief medals. His true love was the Army Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) mission whose motto was “When I have your wounded.”

Tommy Paulk was drafted into the U.S. Army in September 1967. He attended basic training at Fort Benning and Ft. McClelland. In 1968, he was deployed to the Republic of Vietnam. He redeployed to Fort Rucker and was discharged as a staff sergeant. In 1975, he joined the Alabama Army in National Guard and deployments took him to Panama, Ecuador and Germany. In 1990, Uncle Sam, once again called Paulk and he was deployed with the 731st MNT BN to Operation Desert Storm. His 90-day deployment stretched to  nine months. He was released from active duty in July 1991.

“The presentation of handmade quilts to our veterans on Wednesday night was an expression of gratitude, in our small way of saying “thank you for serving our great nation.”