Photo by Samantha Davis. Ralph "Sonny" Olson, center, receives a Quilt of Valor Saturday morning at the Lyon County Fair. Lorinda Coudron and Steve Alm also received a quilt, and all three come from Cottonwood.

MARSHALL — Honoring the time devoted and sacrifices made, a trio of veterans from Cottonwood each received a Quilt of Valor Saturday morning at the Lyon County Fair.

Quilts of Valor are handmade quilts presented to military service veterans. The receiving veterans were Ralph “Sonny” Olson, Lorinda Coudron and Steve Alm.

“To say I am humbled by this gesture is an understatement,” Alm said. “This quilt tells me that I did indeed fulfill my duties.”

Also adding to the special occasion was the relationship between the three. Olson is Coudron’s father, and Coudron and Alm have known each other as well.

The Quilts of Valor program, which got its start in 2003 by founder Catherine Roberts with a message that quilts resemble a form of healing, awarded its first-ever quilt to a Minnesota soldier who fought in Iraq.

“We started in 2017 and since then, we have distributed and awarded our beautiful, caring and loving quilts (to) 457 veterans in our area,” area Quilts of Valor representative Nancy McClain said. “With all of the groups combined, we have done 419,000 since 2003.”

Each veteran received their quilt one by one, and was wrapped around it gently in front of the growing audience at the fair.

“We are so proud to be able to give our veterans the recognition that they need, and the love that they need,” McClain said. “You’ll see the sparkle in their eyes once they receive a quilt.”

Olson received his quilt first, with his daughter to his left, awaiting her quilt.

“I wanted to introduce my daughter,” Olson said. “Thank you for being here with me.”

Coudron received her quilt next, in an emotionally special moment.

“The opportunity to be up there with my dad at age 96, I would never get this opportunity to sit up on a stage with him,” Coudron told the Independent following the ceremony. “It was special to be up there with my dad.”

“Even Steve up there, I know him really well,” Coudron added.

Alm was next given his quilt, and the crowd applauded the three of them as they sat together, each wrapped in their honorary comforter.

“About a month or so ago, he (Alm) had given me a coin, like a medallion, and he made me cry when he did that. Because, it just hits you,” Coudron said, tearing up. “You don’t know that someone is going to approach you and thank you for what you’ve done. So, he had already done this to me a while ago, then to get a quilt … It was beautiful.”

Olson served in the Air Force from 1950 to 1954. He worked in California, Japan and Korea, where he was assigned to repair planes at Air Bases K10 and K46, working on P47’s and P51’s. He then was stationed back in the states at Fort Knox, and served on other bases throughout the country. He was discharged from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.

Coundron was an Army nurse, and served 1986 to 1989. She was assigned to the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and worked in orthopedics. She also was a coordinator in the quality command and surgical units. She was discharged as a First Lieutenant, and continues to work in healthcare with caring for veterans as a certified nurse practitioner.

Alm served in the Air Force from 1970 to 1974, and was assigned to duty stations in Japan and the Philippines. He worked in security services, intercepting and monitoring radio transmissions from various countries. He was also with signal search development, and was discharged in April 1974.

“It’s funny how it hits you. It’s nice that people are so kind,” Coudron said. “It was very touching, and this touched my heart.”