Staff Writer
PATTEN — Giving comfort to those who have lost a loved one in combat isn’t easy and Sandra Troutt knows — she lost her grandson.
Spc. Dustin Harris was killed in action in April of 2006. Since then, his family has been struggling to move on and heal. Taking part in the creation of “Comfort Quilts” for other grieving military mothers has been one way for them to do it.
Regardless of which military branch they served with, other Marine moms wanted to find a way to honor the fallen heroes by providing their survivors with a tangible piece of comfort stitched together with care by others who understand all too well from every corner of America.
That mission came to light last September for the Harris family in Patten. Spc. Dustin Harris joined the military because of what happened on September 11, 2001. It was fitting that his mother, Lorna, would receive a comfort quilt on that same day, five years later.
Since then, the Harris family has taken an active role in promoting and distributing these comfort quilts to the “Marine moms” for the military men and women who were lost in service for their country.
Troutt along with Dustin’s parents and family began making quilt patches and signing messages on them before sending them to other parts of the country. Those patches would than receive messages from other military families and friends before being put together into one comforting quilted message.
At Dustin’s home, in a room located over his parents’ garage, a full-length quilt hangs directly in the middle of a wall, which also displays two of his uniform jackets. The room, done in a military green color, has only one purpose — to remember and honor Dustin.
Some of the quilt patch patterns have been designed by Dustin’s brother Dylan, as well his young nephew Jett Troutt, making this remembrance project a true family affair.
A comfort quilt is made of 12.5-inch by 12.5-inch blocks with messages written on each square. It takes one embroidered Branch of Service square, one “name” square and 28 squares from different sources to make one comfort quilt. Donations of materials are always needed.
Thanks to the efforts of Dustin Harris’ grandmother Sandra, 24 comfort quilts have been made and shared. She is currently working on number 25.
Troutt continues her efforts in the quilt square project. Her immediate goal is to collect 250 more quilt squares before the end of November.
For more information on comfort quilts, visit the Web site at www.marinecomfortquilts.com, or contact Sandra at 207-365-4110, via E-mail at jtroutt@pivot.net or by mail at Sandra Troutt, P.O. Box 93, Sherman, ME 04776.
Contributed photo
VETERANS FUND-RAISER — A beautifully crafted red, white, and blue "Starburst" quilt measuring 92 inches square, has been donated by Tammy Ritchie of Houlton to the ongoing effort to raise funding for the Maine Veterans Cemetery at Caribou. With the valuable raffle item and its creator are, from left, Carl McGlauflin, American Legion Post 88 of Presque Isle, Harry Hafford, Department of Maine AmVets of Masardis; Dave Richmond, superintendent of the Maine Veterans Cemetery System; and Dale McGlinn, American Legion, Post 15 of Caribou.
