Since its inception, Quilts of Valor has garnered more than 11,000 volunteer quiltmakers and awarded more than 400,000 quilts worldwide.

When he was discharged, he was a second class petty officer. A Quilt of Valor was presented Monday afternoon to 97-year-old Andy Bolin at Grand Island’s Veterans Administration Medical Center.

A Quilt of Valor is a handmade quilt awarded to a service member or veteran who has been touched by war. This was the first ever presented by the Fort Kearney DAR chapter.