Dear Heather B (and family + Bentley!),

 

Thank you so very much for the laundry bag, I absolutely love it!

 

I’m currently deployed to Headquarters Middle East and I’m writing this back to you after a rather toasty day of typical 40+ degree weather here in the desert (well…Dubai outskirts at least). I’m one of the engineers out here managing a number of projects and having a heap of fun doing it! I’ve been here for just about 3 months now and it’s been a pretty hectic time but it’s been awesome getting to do my part for the country and the RAAF/ADF.

 

Back home I’m posted to RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria although I’m a Queenslander at heart after spending most of my life growing up in and around Noosa before uni down in Brisbane at UQ. A bit of a shame about your trip to Noosa that was put on hold because of TC Alfred, I hope you’ve managed to get up there for a few days since, it is a lovely part of the world. I’m hoping to get to Japan for a few weeks with my partner when I get back home which I absolutely cannot wait for, I’ve never been before and I’m already counting down the days.

 

You may be wondering where the inspiration for having a laundry bag with the mighty C-130J Hercules on it came from. Well, my partner is also in the RAAF and she actually flies the Herc based out of RAAF Richmond in Sydney. So every time I look at my laundry bag it reminds me of her back home getting to fly around and do lots of very cool things with a very cool aircraft (I may be biased).

 

I’ve attached my best attempt at a selfie with the laundry bag so you can put a face to a name. I really can’t thank you enough, receiving little things like these and messages like yours makes me realise how much of a privilege it is to be doing what I get to do for a country that I love.

 

I’d also like to thank you for the Tim Tams, as much as it would be a nice gesture to share them with my mates I’m definitely going to be keeping them to myself ;).

 

Sincerely,

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Dear Christine C

Thank you very much for your wonderfully made quilt. Although I see it was posted in October last year it only arrived in my office in March, likely lost in fleet mail for the period so I’m thankful it did eventually arrive.  I’ve since posted from HMAS Arunta into a new role in Fleet Headquarters but during my time on board I thoroughly enjoyed watching the joy on people’s faces as their distinctive soft packages arrived and people knew they’d received their quilt or laundry bag.

I’ve had my quilt laid out in my office and it’s quickly become the talk of the building.  You’ve met my request exactly and I’m very happy to have this on display in my office and on my bed in my cabin when I go back to sea next.

Thank you also for your lovely letter. Its great to put a name and a person to a quilt.  I believe I may have briefly met you in Melbourne when the CWO showed you around the ship. She gave many tours during our port visit and I met many of them.  The CWO is a great supporter of Aussie Hero Quilts and I’m sure she’ll join your ranks on her retirement from the Navy.

I’m orignally from outback NSW thought I’ve lived in Sydney/Newcastle since I joined the Navy in 2006.  I’m married with a 4 year old daughter and a second daughter due in April.  My wife is German so I can related to your exhaustive travels to Europe to visit family and friends and agree if you’re traveling that far and spend that much money, you’d might as well make the most of it.  As a 37 year old, I’ve travelled a lot and love it through travelling with a 4 year old makes it so much harder!

I wouldn’t say I’m from a military family either but my great grandfater fought at Gallipoli during WW1 and I was thankful to take his son (my grandfather) to the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign in Turkiye in 2015.  An even and an experience with my grandfather I’ll never forget. My other grandfather served in Darwin during WW2, though he never spoke much of his time in the Army.

When I was young I’d march on ANZAC day wearing their medals on my right side either with scouts or with school, in a way I think their service inspired me to join the Navy.

Thank you for your career of service in the health industry.  Nursing is sometimes a thankless job but I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it and that you went on to teach it. Retiring from nursing and continuing ‘service’ through Aussie Hero Quilts is admirable and much appreciated by the military personnel you provide to.  I can’t emphasise enough how much these quilts/laundry bags are appreciated.

Your sincerely

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Good evening,

 

 

Thank you so much to Ellen N and Susana for this beautiful quilt!

 

 

This is so amazing and so beautifully made. I will cherish it forever. Again, thank you so much!!

 

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