Dear Beverley,

Firstly, I must apologise for the significant delay in my reply to your letter! I love the quilt that was made for me and I look forward to taking it with me on many trips around the country and hopefully around the world!

I have been in the RAN for nearly 6.5 years, joining when I left high school, through the Australian Defence Force Academy. I have now been posted to several different ships, mostly Patrol Boats, but most recently, HMAS Sirius which decommissioned at the end of last year. We enjoyed a lovely deployment around South East Asia and then a decommissioning tour around Australia visiting Darwin, Sydney, Hobart, Albany and everyone’s favourite, Norfolk Island which was our ceremonial port.

I am currently posted to our brand-new Replenishment Ship, HMAS Stalwart (III) and we are busy getting ready to go to sea shortly for our very first assessments and to conduct trials on our Replenishment at Sea rigs before deploying at the end of the year. It is truly a very exciting and rewarding time!

I am in the Navy as a Maritime Warfare Officer so I spend most of my time up on the bridge driving the ship and navigating which I love! After this posting I will conduct some courses and move to Darwin.

I enjoyed reading about your travels spend with your family and it sounds like you have been to some wonderful places. I look forward to exploring more of this wonderful country and world in the future, with my partner who is currently a Doctor in the RAN, and I am lucky that she has the same sense of adventure as I do! I’ve always been keen on my outdoor activities and I am glad that I can still fulfil that with the Navy.

Once again, thank you so much for the quilt, I’ve already put it to good use and I am sorry for the delay in my reply!

Hope you are well,

….

Dear Lyn,

In 2018 I was deployed to Townsville, Australia where I boarded HMAS Adelaide. Our mission was to provide waterside security during the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

When boarding HMAS Adelaide, an Australian sailor handed me a small package and welcomed me onboard. I discovered your gift within the check-in package and your note. Being sleep deprived, I placed your note into a small pocket in my seabag and focused on my duty to make sure all in my unit were checked in and the equipment was properly stored onboard. Throughout the deployment I used your laundry bag. As time went on, I forgot where I had placed your note. When I returned home, I threw my seabag in the closest where it remained until the other day. While cleaning out my closet I found my old seabag and found your note. I would like to apologize for such a long delay in thanking you for such a nice gift. It’s a pretty cool bag and I still have it (see attached photo) to this day. 

I reread your letter and I hope one day I’m able to make it back to Australia. Alice Springs, Litchfield, Kakado and the Gulf of Carpentaria sounds wonderful. I would also love to visit Waikerie. It sounds like my kind of place…small, everyone knows everyone…yup, my kind of place. When I was in Australia, I didn’t have much time to see your country. I did have one day in Sydney before flying back to the U.S. I’m not really a big city kind of guy but I did notice the city being much cleaner than the cities here in the U.S. 

I know I’m not an “Aussie” but I do very much appreciate your gift.

Thank you very much for your kindness and gift. And again, I’m very sorry it took me four years to respond. 

Cheers and hope you have a great week.

….

Good Afternoon Helen.W,

 

I was recently posted at last minute notice to help on OP Flood assist in Northern NSW and had forgotten to pack my usual laundry bag and was given a beautiful floral one with a touching note from you inside. I would like to thank you for this small gesture, it’s the little things like receiving personal gifts like this that make being away from my own family to help others just that little bit easier on us.

 

A little bit about me, I joined the Royal Australian Navy in 2017 as a helicopter mechanic. In early 2021 I changed over to be an Aircrewman as I thought why fix the helicopter when I can fly around in them all day as my job haha. As an Aircrewman we sit in the back of the aircraft and do the hoisting operations and rescues as one small part of our role amongst other things.

 

Once again I can’t thank you enough for the laundry bag and taking the time out of your day to tell me you story behind it.

Kind Regards 

….

Good Morning Cath,

I just wanted to drop you a quick email to say that I received your beautiful quilt and laundry bag yesterday and am completely blown away. Thank you so so much.

The design is absolutely gorgeous, and I am in awe of your creativity and skill to create something so special. It is everything I could have hoped for, and more.

It is really humbling to know that there are people like you in the community who dedicate so much time to supporting ADF personnel. I cannot thank you enough.

I have written you a letter, which includes some pictures of my two Goldies, and I hope will arrive soon.

Thank you again, and take care.

….

Good evening Lisa and Beverly,

I’m writing to let you know that my “Aussie Hero” quilt and laundry bag arrived today, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. They are both fantastic. Beverly, you interpreted my request to Jan-Maree perfectly. I sent a photo to the rest of the contingent members when I opened the box and received lots of thumbs up emoticons, so I’m passing those on to you. Some of the newer members of our group have already asked for the AHQ contact details to request theirs.

Please thank Philomena for the quilting.

Thank you also for telling me a bit about yourself, as well. My grandfather also served in Egypt (as a truck driver) and one of my cousins served in the Royal Australian Air Force as an Airframe Fitter, so I thought that was a bit of a coincidence.

I’m glad that sewing these quilts and bags brings you such pleasure. Let me assure you both that receiving these items is a great morale booster and will be a great keepsake for the future.  

Thanks again and all the best for yourselves and AHQ