Quilts of Valour Presentation at Pro Patria Centre
Pro Patria Centre has had the honour of hosting several presentations by Quilts of Valour.
On Monday 8th August two Quilts of Valour were presented at PPC, one to a Riverina Vietnam Veteran and another to the family of a deceased Vietnam Veteran.
Quilts of Valour Australia’s mission is to present quilts to service members and veterans of the ADF in recognition of their sacrifice for Australia whilst deployed on combat operations. The recognition will also be extended to the families of Australian Defence Force Personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice.
John Curtis was born in 1946 in Murwillumbah. He joined the Army as an apprentice musician and was transferred to Duntroon where he met Prince Phillip. Whilst with 2nd Battalion in Brisbane he met and married his wife Barbara and has his first child, and only daughter, Karen. John was sent to Vietnam in May 1966, serving in 5RAR as a Combat Medic/Stretcher Bearer/Musician. He returned home in May 1967
On his return John was transferred to Puckapunyal where his first son, Peter was born.
From there John was transferred to Townsville where he became part of the North QLD Army Band, which was a big part of his army career. A new adventure awaited John and his family in a posting to Singapore and was there from 1971 to 1973, where his youngest son Damian was born.
After a few more postings, including another 5 years in Townsville, John’s last posting was as Chief Clerk as at Victoria Barracks in Sydney finishing in 1982 where he then retired to Junee with the family.
John joined the Junee RSL sub-Branch as a member and was a member from 1990 – 2014 but became Secretary from 2003 – 2014.
He also joined the South West Slopes Vietnam Veterans where he found some camaraderie with men that had similar experiences. In 2009 John became President of the South West Slopes Vietnam Veterans of which he is still the current President.
John promotes service of VV and normal duties of a President. He loves to organise trips for VV and partners which are enjoyed by all. John organises the annual VV (Long Tan) day to ensure that our local communities remember the sacrifice that the veterans (and their families) have made.
Karen, John’s daughter said,
“We would like to thank Ray Seymour for his nomination of John. We would also like to thank Stan and Sue Allen (in Sydney) for all they do with the Vets and Quilts of Valour, and Di Pilmore, who looks after our local Wagga area and to the wonderful people who give their time to make these beautiful quilts.
Finally, we would like to thank Pro Patria for this honour and for having us here today. We wish them all the best of luck for this worthwhile project to bring the Veterans together for theirs, and their families, wellbeing.”
Peter Lyons, John’s brother-in-law, was tragically killed in South Vietnam. John’s wife Barbara is Peter’s only surviving sibling.
The passages below are from Peter’s 50th Anniversary memorial service held at the Old Junee Cemetery in 2018, with Major General Jim Molan as the guest speaker.
“In those early days of his tour, Peter was part of many patrols but on the morning of the 2nd of March 1968, during Operation Pinnaroo in the Long Hai hills, southeast of Nui Dat, Peter paid the ultimate sacrifice when a booby trap exploded, killing him instantly.
Coincidentally, on the same morning the Lyons family were reading a letter from Peter and they were very happy because he wrote, ‘Dean Mum and Dad, I will be coming home in June.’ ”
Quilts of Valour make quilts for Australian Defence Force Personnel / veterans wounded or suffering the effects of service and immediate families of fallen Defence Force Personnel.
