Quilt of Valour presented to Vietnam veteran Bob Murray Port POPUP - DAupdate Port Stephens Port Stephens News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - December 21, 2023 Vietnam veteran Bob Murray with Daughter Kylie and Quilts of Valour Australia representatives Andre and Susanne Stegeman. REPRESENTATIVES from Quilts of Valour Australia teamed up with Welfare Officers from the Nelson Bay RSL sub-Branch at a special presentation at the Regis nursing home in Salamander Bay on 14 December. Robert ‘Bob’ Murray was the recipient of a quilt donated by a Victorian-based organisation set up in 2010 in order to recognise veterans and Defence personnel touched by war. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au “Quilts of Valour Australia (QOVA) is a not for profit charity that has supplied thousands of quilts to veterans and the immediate families of fallen personnel,” said QOVA representative Andre Stegemen. “We have also sent quilts to the military hospital in Germany, which are awarded with a covering letter to the recipient and a certificate.” QOVA’s Susanne Stegeman described the quilt as “an immensely powerful gift of love”. “The top of the quilt with its many colours, shapes and fabrics, represents the communities and the many individuals we are. “The wadding, the filler, is the centre of the quilt, its warmth. “It represents our hope that this quilt will bring warmth, comfort, peace and healing to the recipient.” Mr Murray served for a year in Vietnam as a Corporal with the 33rd Dental Unit, Royal Australian Army Dental Corps from March 1969 to March 1970 as part of his National Service. However, Mr Murray wasn’t the only proud recipient of a quilt at the presentation. Unbeknownst to him, QOVA had also prepared another presentation for John Collins, a Welfare Officer and seventeen year stalwart for the Nelson Bay RSL sub-Branch. John served for 21 years in the Royal Australian Navy, including tours of Vietnam, rescue missions to the South Pole and on various ships including HMAS Gascoyne and HMAS Perth II on her initial deployment. John ended his career as a Chief Petty Officer and now continues to serve with the RSL sub-Branch, coordinating events such as these, visiting and befriending local veterans and helping to organise the various memorial events in Port Stephens, with the help of Meagan Harding, also a Welfare Officer with the sub-Branch. To contact QOVA, visit www.quiltsofvalour.com.au. By Simon EKINS Bob Murray with Nelson Bay RSL sub-Branch Welfare Officers John Collins and Meagan Harding. Nelson Bay RSL sub-Branch Welfare Officer John Collins with Quilts of Valour Australia’s Andre and Susanne Stegeman.
