PUTNAM — The Putnam Lions’ business meeting was anything but ordinary last month when a member of the CT Quilts of Valor group presented a Quilt of Valor to the Putnam Lions’ own Al “Chief” Cormier.
Jan Roberta, the CT Quilts of Valor group coordinator made the presentation.
Quilts of Valor is a national organization run entirely by volunteers.  The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.
Cormier entered the U.S. Army in April of 1968 and completed his basic training at Fort Dix, N.J., then completed his Advanced Individual Training in Interrogation of Prisoners of War I at Fort Meade, Md.  He served with the 25th Infantry Division at Cu Chi in Vietnam as an interrogator from August of 1968 until November of 1969.  His active and reserve tour was six years, ending in April of 1974.  He then served 20 years with the Connecticut Army National Guard. 
As of September 2018, there have been over 197,000 Quilts of Valor awarded to service members and veterans.  On Thursday night, Jan Roberta of the local chapter of Quilts of Valor presented one more quilt to the Putnam Lion’s own Al “Chief” Cormier. The Putnam Lions were honored to host this award ceremony.