![]() ![]() “The quilting ladies are so special to me to do this for us, you’re amazing,” MaryK said. “I’m just shocked to see you all here,” MaryK said to her room full of friends, to which one quipped jokingly, “but not speechless!” Joe was clearly moved by the presentation, a bit teary eyed and quiet. The couple was awarded a quilt each that was wrapped around their shoulders by members of the quilting club. “If they called either of us right now, we’d go,” MaryK said. The two met attending a Catholic retreat in Fukushima, Japan years before they married. “He was a calming force in a crazy Marine Corps,” MaryK said of her husband. ![]() He also earned two Master’s degrees in computer systems management and national resource strategies. He served as Commanding Officer in Hawaii for a squadron of 800 Marines. He was a Colonel in aviation logistics when he retired in 2002. Joe Buranosky graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1976 and became a 2nd Lieutenant She earned degrees at George Mason University and her Master’s Degree at University of Hawaii. She was activated during Desert Storm, where she worked in labor and delivery.Īfter her release of active duty in 1981, she married Joe, whom she met while they were both stationed in Japan. ![]() She went to operating room school in Charleston, trained for the Combat Corps in San Antonio, Texas and was stationed in the Artic Circle in Alaska for a time. Over the years, she worked at Bethesda Naval Hospital (now Walter Reed), and in hospitals in Japan and Washington, D.C. MaryK Buranosky joined the Navy Nurse Corps in 1976 and retired in 1998 as a Commander in the United States Navy Reserves. The quilts awarded to the Buranoskies included friendship star, floating star and nine-patch pattern, according to McDonald. McDonald explained each member of the local club sewed a block, while another quilted and another bound it to make each quilt truly bound with love. Each quilt is made to specific requirements including using patriotic patterns and limited to red, white and blue with some gold and grey. The mission of Quilts of Valor Foundation is “to cover service members and Veterans touched by war with the comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.”Īs of February, the nonprofit organization has awarded 336,061 quilts to active service members or veterans since it was started by founder Catherine Roberts in 2003 when her son was deployed in Iraq. ![]() She has helped make many Quilts of Valor quilts with her quilting club in Birmingham, Alabama. “They’re both very deserving they have been serving their whole lives,” said Janet McDonald, who suggested the first Quilts of Valor presentation for the local quilting club of which she is a member. While Joe knew MaryK was being presented with a Quilt of Valor Tuesday, what he didn’t know was he was, too! “Now wonder I can’t find a parking space!” she said to the crowd of quilters and other friends gathered around. MaryK arrived first, with her embroidery project in hand, thinking she was attending a regular gathering of the Smoky Mountains Quilting Club. Jessica and Joe Buranosky were happily surprised on Tuesday when each got to the fellowship hall of the Bryson City United Methodist Church. ![]()
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