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Thanking Veterans With Every Stitch
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Tracy Ahrens
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Neighbors
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1 May 2008
The hum of a sewing machine is something Gloria Mueller and her son Andrew, 16, have grown accustomed to in their Tinley Park home.
In the evenings, while they watch television, Gloria’s mother, Mary Cvack, feeds fabric and yarn creations under the pressure foot of her estimated 50-year-old, vintage, red-colored, Penncrest brand sewing machine.
Mary, 86, is one of countless volunteers across the country creating flag-like quilted pillow covers and patriotic yarn skullcaps for wounded American veterans.
She learned about the Patriot Pillow Project, known as P3, from a Chicago Tribune story in October 2005.
The story informed readers that P3 founder, Christina Finn, was hosting a project sewing event at Hannum School in Oak Lawn.
Mary read the story and said to herself, “I can do that.”
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Since that event, Mary figures she has completed finishing work on hundreds of pillow covers: hemming, repairing open seams and attaching labels.
In addition, she has sewn scores of Purple Heart patches to crocheted and knitted skullcaps.
Mary stresses that “no bragging rights” are in order for the work she does.
The credit, she said, goes to all the volunteers making these comforting items for soldiers, to the project’s founder and especially to men and women serving in the military.
“There are so many things that people can do instead of just sitting around and complaining,” Mary said.
“I love every stitch that I do for the boys.”
George Cvack, Mary’s husband, was drafted to serve in the Army when he was 24.
In his five years of service, he spent 18 months overseas and earned the title of Army Staff Sergeant.
Mary noted that George served at the Battle of the Bulge, during World War II, from Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 25, 1945.
Of all the battles United States forces experienced during that war, this was one of the bloodiest; 19,000 Americans died.
“George was drafted. He had no say in whether he wanted to serve his country or not. And, he never complained,” Mary said.
“Today, our soldiers volunteer to serve. They make the choice. They are very brave. They serve because they want to, and that’s why doing this project is so fulfilling to me.”
“George made me so proud,” Mary continued with a smile, holding a framed image of her husband taken in his military uniform years ago.
“I’m honoring him and all the boys. I thank them.”
George and Mary had four children, three girls and one boy.
George, however, developed cancer and passed away in 1969.
As she remembers George and other servicemen, Mary sews fervently.
Her ability to whip through cardboard boxes full of pillow covers and laundry bags Mary is usually called on for finishing work.
“I hear my daughter say at times, ‘Mom, slow down!’” Mary said.
“I thank God at my age that I can do what I do.” Mary learned her sewing skills at a technical high school, where she studied dressmaking.
For many years, she worked as a seamstress in a Chicago factory.
“We made sportswear and housecoats,” Mary said.
“We were paid by the amount of items we finished per day.” For example, she was paid according to how many sleeves she could put on dresses, or how many hems she could finish.
“There was no pinning involved,” Mary explained.
“You learned how to work quickly.”
P3 founder Christina Finn is the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, Daniel T. Finn and mother of three children, one of whom also chose to serve in the military.
When her son, Ryan, was deployed to Iraq, Christina, an experienced surgical technician by trade, channeled her energy into a national effort to support wounded soldiers and honor veterans of all generations, according to the P3 Web site, patrioticpillowproject.org.
Born in the Netherlands, Christina became an American citizen at the age of 11.
Her parents immigrated to the United States when she was 15 months old.
Today, Christina is an advocate for U.S. veterans, especially focusing on health care issues.
During Christmastime in 2003, Christina volunteered to help the local United Service Organizations (USO) welcome home returning veterans at Chicago Midway Airport.
There, she met a veteran who had to stay at the airport a few days before catching a flight home.
All she could offer him was a small pillow someone took from an airplane.
Months later, she shared this story with a friend who worked for United Airlines.
Christina decided to recruit volunteers to make quilted pillow cover replicas of the American flag.
United Airlines donated the first 1,000 pillow forms to put inside the covers.
The Chicago Association for Retarded Citizens has made additional pillow forms and donated them to Christina.
Today, volunteers around the country, in more than 45 states, from ages 6 to 100, make pillow covers.
Christina slips the covers over the pillow forms before mailing them to veterans.
With each pillow, a special hand-written card or note is included, thanking a veteran for his or her service.
Volunteers also write these notes.
As of February, the P3 Web site states, some 8,500 pillows have been delivered to soldiers.
Christina has sent pillows to locations such as Walter Reed Army Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C.; National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland; Landstuhl, Germany; Afghanistan, South Korea, veterans’ senior centers, veterans’ hospitals and more.
The pillows are a cushion to support an injured or missing limb, Christina states on her Web site, or a place to rest a weary head.
Christina wishes to deliver patriotic pillows to every veteran, all 24 million of them, according to the Web site.
In 2004, Christina also began another patriotic project.
A Marine, Sergeant Kenneth “Kenny” Sergent, invited her to the AMVETS National Symposium for the Needs of Young Veterans.
There, Kenny, who had suffered a head injury during his deployment, asked Christina if she could make him a patriotic skullcap to keep his head warm.
“He told me that he’d like a purple skullcap and I told him we could also put a Purple Heart insignia on the front,” Christina said.
“I told him we could make more for other veterans and call them ‘Kenny’s Kaps,’ and he said, ‘I love it.’” A published pattern writer created a knit skullcap pattern, Christina said, and it will soon be available on the P3 Web site, like the unique pillow cover pattern, which is already available.
“The caps must be made with quality yarn, nothing itchy or scratchy,” Christina said.
A Pentagon report in January stated that “one in five American servicemen and women who have been in Iraq are coming back with brain injuries.” They often suffer from over-sensitivity, Christina said, so this must be considered when purchasing supplies for the yarn skullcaps.
Today, Christina said, “Americans all over are contributing their energy to say ‘Thanks’ to our military in a unique way.
The hundreds of people who help with this project have made it a success.”
Mary Cvack admires the finished pillow covers and skullcaps that have run through her sewing machine.
She believes her husband would be proud of her if he saw her devotion to the P3 project today.
Routinely, Christina drops off boxes of pillow covers or laundry bags full of skullcaps at Mary’s house.
She tells Mary what type of finishing work is needed.
Only once has Mary been stumped by a sewing issue for the P3 project.
“The caps wouldn’t run through my machine (under the pressure foot),” Mary said.
“They were too bulky.” Mary said she paused and talked to God.
“I said, ‘God, what am I going to do?’ Then, the thought came to me,” Mary said.
She placed a sheet of newspaper inside of the cap so the pressure foot slid across the paper smoothly, not bunching up the yarn.
Once stitches were in place, she tore away the paper.
There are two types of Purple Heart patches used and one of them has a plastic backing.
Mary learned that if she clips that plastic off with tiny scissors, it also makes the patch easier to sew.
When Mary’s work is done, Christina will either pick up the finished products or one of Mary’s daughters will return them to Christina’s home.
Mary hopes that others will read this story, as she once read that P3 story in the Chicago Tribune, and tell themselves, “I can do that, too.” When asked how she feels knowing that veterans all over the world are holding pillows and wearing skullcaps she has worked on, she paused and tears formed in her eyes.
“I feel proud,” she said, patting a pillow case on her sewing table.
“They are protecting me.”
“I have a philosophy,” she continued. “I am one. I can’t do everything, but what I can do, I will.”
For information on the Patriotic Pillow Project and Kenny’s Kaps, visit patrioticpillowproject.org. You can also email Christina Finn at christina@patrioticpillowproject.org or call her at 708-837-4510.
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