<\/p>\n
Pat Akers was devastated after her brother Robert Ghann was killed crossing the Atlantic in 1942 when his ship was torpedoed during World War II.<\/p>\n
Crafting quilts with the La Plata Quilters Guild for the parents of fallen service members has given her way to honor Ghann, who served in the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere it is 75 years later and we still grieve,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Akers, a Forest Lakes resident, was originally asked to donate a single quilt to the Blue Star Moms of Durango<\/a>, a group of moms with a child serving or who has served in the military. She immediately agreed because of her own experience. When she learned about annual gatherings<\/a> held in Colorado for Gold Star parents \u2013 those who have lost a loved one serving in the military \u2013 she offered to make a quilt for that group. When it was well-received, she recruited members of the quilting guild to make more for the next gathering. The work has continued ever since.<\/p>\n The guild has made more than 200 quilts since 2010 for the parents of fallen service members.<\/p>\n Meeting those families, especially mothers of fallen service members, helped Akers understand her own mother\u2019s grief after Ghann\u2019s death.<\/p>\n \u201cI was there when the telegram came for my mother and she almost collapsed,\u201d Akers said.<\/p>\n Her mom, Roberta Ghann, later left the family. For three years, Akers\u2019 two older sisters cared for her while their father served in the Navy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt ruined my mother when my brother was killed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While delivering quilts to the annual Gold Star family weekends, Akers has witnessed and heard about similar grief.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen families walk in with a recent death and they are devastated,\u201d she said. They leave feeling better after meeting with others who have experienced the loss of child in war, she said. She believes her mother would have benefited from a similar gathering.<\/p>\n Akers later reconnected with her mother, but she never thought ill of her. Meeting Gold Star parents allowed her to forgive her mom.<\/p>\n During the gatherings, Akers has watched Gold Star moms start to select a donated quilt and then break down in tears over a particular blanket that resonated with them. She has also received numerous letters from grateful moms telling her about their children.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Gold Star families, they just don\u2019t want you to forget their child,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Akers has also treasured Ghann\u2019s memory, even though she was only 5 years old when he died. She was the youngest of six siblings and so Ghann, along with her other siblings, took care of her.<\/p>\n \u201cThey kind of treated me like the family puppy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Ghann often carried her around and worked hard to make sure his nickname \u201cBobby\u201d would be her first word.<\/p>\n Even though Akers was there when the telegraph about Ghann\u2019s death came, it took her a while to understand that he wasn\u2019t coming back from war.<\/p>\n \u201cThey said he was missing in action, so I kept thinking they would find him. I didn\u2019t associate that with being dead, and so for years I waited. \u2026 Then it finally hit me that \u2018missing\u2019 was missing in an ocean and that he was gone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n During the years after Ghann\u2019s death, Akers and her sisters moved frequently while their father served in the war.<\/p>\n During that time and afterward, Akers clung to the white teddy bear Ghann gave to her on her fourth Christmas. She still has the bear. It is named \u201cBobby.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe is no longer pretty and no longer white,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Akers describes the grief her family went through after Ghann\u2019s death as different, compared to the loss of other family members. He was the standout sibling and everyone\u2019s favorite, so that was likely part of their grief. But she attributes some of their feelings to the fact he died serving his country. When military members, police officers and firefighters die, the whole community grieves, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are a hero to all of us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n