As a young Marine coming home from serving in the Vietnam War, Kaylene Webb's husband wasn't treated like someone who had fought for his country.

While seated on a commercial airliner on the flight home, the young Marine was refused food service.

Nearly 40 years later, that memory was still fresh in Webb's mind. She wanted to do something to make sure U.S. servicemembers feel the love their country has for their service.

Through her husband's service in the Washington Air National Guard, the couple got to know Brig. Gen. Craig Blankenstein, the Chief of Staff of the WANG. After the couple retired to Yaak, Mont., Webb kept in touch with Blankenstein and his wife. Webb asked Blankenstein that if she made quilts for servicemembers he could find a way to put them in the right hands.

"He said absolutely," Webb said.

And so Webb and a friend started sewing. They even put composed a mission statement, sampling various patriotic pieces from a variety of sources.

"We wanted to stay focused," she said.

One of Webb's quilts eventually made it into the hands of Staff Sgt. Kenny Walker, a joint terminal air controller with the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron out of Camp Murray. Walker was honored in August as one of the Air Force's 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2010. He also recently earned a Bronze Star with Valor for his actions during a six-month deployment to Afghanistan in May 2009.

Blankenstein personally delivered him a quilt earlier this month after the Grants Pass, Ore. resident reported to Camp Murray for his drill weekend.

"I just thought he was going to say hello ... I had no idea that he was going to give me a quilt," Walker said.

Walker, a 13-year Air Force veteran, was blown away by the gesture.

"The detail in the stitching is amazing," he said. "The thought that (Webb) put into is great."

Webb even stitched Walker's name in the quilt. The quilt has a permanent home in the Walker family's home on the sofa.

"The four kids love it," said the staff sergeant, whose wife is a former Marine. "They're all so proud of it."

The Walker family wrote letters to Webb thanking her for the quilt. Despite the time effort it takes to make one of the quilts, Webb and her friend said they will continue to make quilts.

"It's definitely a labor of love," she said.

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