“I was just doing my job,” said Doug Thompson, his eyes moist from tears. “I’m just an ordinary man.”
Thompson, known to many as “Doc,” was the recipient of a Quilt of Valor Monday, May 11, at the Solon American Legion Stinocher Post 460 in recognition of his decades of military service, and his continuing service to veterans and the community.
About the Quilts of Valor program
In 2003 a woman named Catherine Roberts, whose son was deployed to Iraq, had a dream involving a young man sitting on the edge of his bed and being besieged by war demons before being wrapped in a quilt and seeming hopeful. The message, Roberts said, was quilts = healing. Soon after she organized fellow quilters to band together and craft quilts to honor service members and veterans who have been touched by war. The first quilt was presented to a soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in November 2023. Since then over 420,000 quilts of valor have been hand-made and presented to recipients across the country through the Quilts of Valor® Foundation.
Locally, Pat Wieland has been making quilts for the program for about ten years as a way to give back and honor our veterans. For Pat, it’s personal as the daughter of a Navy veteran.
Honoring a man who served, and continues to serve
During the presentation, Pat’s husband Bill said with this being America’s 250th anniversary, she wanted to not only honor a veteran, but one who is a member of the Knights of Columbus as well.
“Doug Thompson exceptionally fits both categories,” Bill said.
A member of St. Mary Catholic Church KC Council 12129 in Solon, Thompson’s military service spans over two decades after joining the Navy in 1968. He volunteered to be a corpsman and after training worked in multiple wards at a Navy hospital including the newborn nursery and Intensive Care Unit. He attended radiology (X-ray) school and later was assigned to the Fleet Marine Force where he served alongside the Marines, including deployment to Vietnam as a combat medic (“Doc”).
“While at the Great Lakes Navy base, and Camp Lejeune, Doug was often assigned ‘Special Watch’ duty, where a corpsman was assigned to care for one person who is dying; taking care of the patient’s needs including all medical and spiritual needs, often just holding the hand of a soldier comforting them, never leaving the bedside of a dying patient,” said Bill.
“There are many stories where Doug’s service has gone above and beyond the call of duty, positively impacting many enlisted men and their families,” Bill continued. “Needless to say, our country has been blessed to have this extraordinary man serve our nation over the span of the Vietnam War, the cold war up to and including the Gulf War and Desert Storm era.”
Thompson was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1974 and joined the Army Reserve in 1984 and was assigned to the Cedar Rapids based 73rd Combat Support Field Hospital. His enlistment was up in 1990; however, he recalled, Iraq invaded Kuwait before his discharge date and he was placed in the Inactive Reserves, “…at the convenience of the U.S. Army.”
He was told orders for active duty would be coming, however, “No orders came,” and he received his second honorable discharge in 1991 after U.S. forces withdrew from Kuwait.
Today, he continues to serve to save as chaplain for the Solon American Legion Stinocher Post 460 and as an advocate in the prevention of veteran suicide. Thompson has spearheaded the annual “Ruck 22” march to bring awareness to the plight of veterans plagued by suicidal thoughts as well as to raise funds for Iowa Veterans Outdoor Experience; a Solon-based all-volunteer nonprofit organization providing fellowship and support services through outdoor experiences including hunting and fishing trips.
“The Quilt of Valor® Foundation unequivocally says thank you for your service, sacrifice, and valor in serving our nation, and thank you for allowing us to present this to you today,” Bill said as he and Pat presented Quilt 421,811 to Thompson.