Seeley Lake veteran honored with Quilt of Valor

SEELEY LAKE – Retired Marine Corps Naval Aviator Captain and Seeley Lake resident John Manz received a Quilt of Valor (QOV) Aug. 24 from the QOV Foundation. He is among more than 325,000 veterans across the United States who have been recognized for their service and dedication to their country. His son Tom, a retired 23-year career Army Officer, will also receive a QOV.

"It was a surprise," Manz said. "It takes you back a lot of years. It really humbles you."

After receiving the QOV, Manz shared a story about how the life of one of his fellow marines came full circle following a speech he gave at an Order of the Arrow, the honor society for Boy Scouts of America.

When Manz was the area vice president South Central Region for the Boy Scouts of America, he was asked to speak for the Order of the Arrow. While he had his speech prepared, he told his son Tom, then a senior in high school, he did not like it.

"Why don't you tell them the story of [your fellow marine]," Tom encouraged.

"That's personal," Manz said but reluctantly agreed.

His friend was a fellow Eagle Scout and had dreams of becoming a Boy Scout executive following his service in the Marine Corps.

Manz shared the story about his friend and fellow aviator who led a mission in monsoon weather to provide close air support to one of the Special Forces outposts in the A Shua Valley, Vietnam.

Following notice of his death, Manz and others pieced the story together. His friend flew in slow with the gear and flaps down, made one pass, put his ordinance on target and hit the side of a mountain. His body and his aircraft were never recovered.

"He was an excellent pilot," Manz said. "He knew what he was doing."

Following Manz's speech, a distinguished scoutmaster introduced himself. He was retired from the Special Forces.

"'Sir for the first time, I know the name of the Marine pilot that saved my life and the lives of my A team,'" Manz recalled him saying.

"That is when it really hammers home. It was an eyewitness account. [The mission] saved all of their lives," Manz said. "That is when something like [receiving a Quilt of Valor] means so much. It is people like [my fellow Marines] that I think about that are still out there."

* * * * *

The Quilts of Valor Foundation started in 2003. Their mission is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with a comforting and healing Quilt of Valor (QOV).

Any service member or living veteran with an honorable or general discharge are eligible to be nominated and can receive one QOV. Nominations are organized by the date received and then by the capacity of the local group to make the quilt. Nominations are prioritized by those most in need of comfort and healing followed by era of service and times of war-conflict, declared or undeclared, (World War II, Korea, Vietnam, etc.) and medical or debilitating conditions related to service.

Volunteer QOV members make the quilts. QOV are typically red, white and blue, however, the veterans can request something different. The quilts are all a certain size and are made with high quality fabrics.

"My goal is to make them as nice as possible because this is their one quilt that they will get from our organization," said Sandy Eisinger, a QOV member from Seeley Lake. "I think of it as an expression of gratitude. It is like this great big thank you card."

Western Montana Quilts of Valor Coordinator Deborah Tomell said they have five groups in Montana: Glendive, Billings, Great Falls, Ennis and Missoula. There are currently 15-20 members in the Missoula group that is also sponsored by the Missoula Quilts Guild. Tomell said the Missoula group has awarded around 150 QOV since they started more than four years ago.

The local groups award the QOV to the recipient at an in-person presentation. A letter and thank you are included with the quilt.

"We want to thank the veterans personally," Tomell said.

Manz served as an infantry officer and naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps on active duty from 1961-1968. He was part of the first Marine F8E Crusader squadron in Vietnam where he served from 1965-1966. He said Marines learned to love having back up in the air that understood what was happening on the ground.

"Marine aviation is there for one reason, support the rifleman," Manz said.

Manz remembers his squadron commander in Vietnam telling him, "'Fly the airplane. Don't kill yourself. Make the enemy do his job.' He brought every one of us home."

After returning from Vietnam, the Marine Corps trained Manz as an aviation safety officer in early 1967. Naval aviation in the service is a high-risk profession.

"We don't have accidents. We call them caused occurrences," Manz said. "There is a difference."

Manz explained that one tenth of one percent of accidents are truly acts of God. Instead the majority of accidents are actually caused occurrences, things that happen but could have been prevented.

"You may not have been the one that could have prevented what happened but something went wrong some place. You have to learn to dig that out and put it out in front and improve," Manz said. "It is a mental change. If you build it into your people, they will learn to think the same way."

Manz credits the Marine Corps and his aviation safety officer training for propelling him rapidly through his civilian career as a forest manager.

Weyerhaeuser Company hired Manz in 1968 and he worked for them until 2000. He went from a first line supervisor to logging superintendent to regional manager in less than six years, promotions that he said normally take a lifetime.

Manz ran a million acre cooperate timberland operation, with two-thirds of the timber coming from property Weyerhaeuser did not own, hauling up to 500 loads a day, 250 days a year. He ended his career as the director of applied technology globally for forest and woods operations which entailed extensive travel to 41 different countries in nine years. In his career he only had two fatalities in anything that he led, something he said is unheard of in logging.

Manz credited his success to his Marine Corps leadership training and his belief that, when things went wrong, they were not accidents. They were caused occurrences.

"You get around them by selecting people carefully, education, training, evaluation and rigorous investigations," Manz said.

Manz continued, "The Maine Corps is a team. It is no longer a band of brothers, it is a band of siblings. Some of the finest aviators in the Marine Corps are young women. You are a Marine forever. You don't go through some of the training you get in the Marine Corps without learning that you can't do it alone."

Manz has served in various leadership roles with the Boy Scouts of America since he earned his Eagle Scout in 1952. He said he has remained in Scouts to honor the memory of his friend and fellow Marine aviator who died saving the lives of the special forces in the A Shua Valley.

"Every one of us has those stories," Manz said.

Eisinger said it is a reward and honor to hear the veterans tell their stories when they present them with a QOV.

"They are walking history books," Eisinger said. "The World War II and Vietnam veterans are not going to be around that long. Meet them and hear their stories, if they want to tell it. It is an honor when they do share."

Eisinger encouraged locals to nominate veterans for a Quilt of Valor.

"It is available to anyone, men and women, who have served in the Armed Services," Eisinger said. "There is no discrimination for war versus peace time, rank or gender. They are given out to anyone who served. They made it part of their life where they were available to defend our country. I'm proud to be a part of a very patriotic organization and to give thank you for these people. They sacrifice quite a lot."

For more information on the Quilts of Valor Foundation or to nominate a veteran visit https://www.qovf.org/