Part 9 of the Travelling 15th Anniversary Laundry Bags.

Woo Hoo.  The Tankette is abot to head off with one of our 15th Anniversary Laundry Bags on the Shitbox Rally.  Get ready to start cheering! What is the rallying equivalent of Fair Winds and Following Seas and break a leg???? Safe travels Mighty little Tankette.  It is not the size of the tank in the fight but the size of the fight in the Tank! 

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And now for Part 9 of the Tales of our Travelling 15th Anniversary Laundry Bags.

It almost feels like a fulltime job keeping track of the bags, where they are, where they are travelling to next. So where are the bags now?

Apart from our intrepid bag that has joined the Tankette, I keep one here with me at Headquarters so that I can take photos of anyone who drops in. Another one is visiting with the ladies from Prestige Medals, two are doing the rounds in Canberra whilst another has made it to Sydney. A fifth one is heading to Melbourne whilst one is heading to Perth. 

We sent one into the Garden Island, Fleet Base East, now it is heading to Darwin to do the rounds of the vessels based there. It will move on to Cairns and then has to be in the WA, heading for Fleet Base West by the first week in August. There is still one in the UK with Op Kudu, has to wait til its current custodian returns to Australia and then it will be sent to me. We also still have one in the USA but hopefully that will begin its trip home to me soon.

A number of the bags have had to have extra panels added to the back so we can add more signatures. One bag spent a couple of weeks touring around Parliament House visiting various politicians, including the Prime Minister. 

These bags have really been having some adventures. 

There are quuite a few tales in this edition of the "Tales".  Enjoy. 

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Something different for our 15th Anniversary Laundry Bag photo today.

These days when someone visits Aussie Hero Headquarters to collect a quilt or laundry bags for a particular group I buttonhole them and get them to pose for a photo with one of our 15th Anniversary Laundry Bags.

This time however, for the sake of security, the bags are brave enough to stand on their own. These are being collected today for a group on deployment in the Middle East and we are sending our gratitude and best wishes along with our bags.

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Very grateful for these lovely words from a great organization, the Australian National Veterans Art Museum. In celebration of our 15th Anniversary. Love the fact one of our Anniversay Laundry Bags was on display with other pieces of art for a few days.

“For over 15 years, Aussie Hero Quilts (AHQ) has stitched together community and care — sending thousands of handmade quilts and laundry bags to Australian Defence Force personnel as heartfelt tokens of gratitude, not just works of art, but works of the heart ♥️

This spirit of creative care aligns with ANVAM’s vision & across the Veteran Arts Community, who continue to engage in artistic expression for wellbeing and connection. Fittingly, many veteran artists have been the proud recipients of AHQ laundry bags and quilts, which are valued to this day.

Receiving a handmade item reflective of themselves and their service continues the long tradition of care in our community and reminds us of the importance of creativity in our everyday lives and the history that underpins this. Congratulations JMB & Aussie Hero Quilts for 15 years of caring for the ADF.’ ANVAM Chairman, Mark Johnston @anvam310 “

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We are often asked to include badges, such as the service badges, corps badges and ships’ badges on the quilts and bags that we make. Some of these we can embroider and some we have to print on special printable fabric. Obviously in order to do this we need good copies of the artwork. We are very fortunate to have built a great relationship with the Navy’s keeper of the badges… the fellow colloquially known as the Navy Badger.

“On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Aussie Hero Quilts, I would like to celebrate the friendship and close rapport that the Aussie Hero team has built with Navy Badges. For the past ten years, it has been my privilege to supply badges to support the production of such evocative works. I am incredibly proud to have played a small part in honouring our serving members and veterans and I look forward to continuing to build this relationship in the years ahead.”

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For quite a number of years Aussie Hero Quilts has attended the Defence Chaplaincy Centre in Canberra to tell the new (ish) chaplains about who we are and what we do. Each time present each chaplain with their own personalised laundry bag. We hope this will keep our story visible so that they will think of us when a situation arises when a quilt or a laundry bag might help raise the morale of an individual or a group. Many chaplains from all three services have then seen fit to contact us for various reasons once back at their units. One such course was run just recently and two of our volunteers represented Aussie Hero Quilts to hand out the laundry bags and also took along one of our 15th Anniversary Bags.

“Course members from the recent ADF Support Chaplaincy Course were very pleased to receive their personalised laundry bags marking their commencement as Chaplains and Maritime Spiritual Wellbeing Officers within Defence”

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Air Commodore Grant Pinder was good enough to collect today’s batch of photos including some taken whilst attending a function on board HMAS Canberra.

“In my capacity as one of the AHQ Board members, I used the opportunity to catch up with Warrant Officer-Navy and Warrant Officer-Air Force in their Canberra offices at Defence Headquarters to sign a laundry bag (LB). A few weeks later, while onboard HMAS Canberra for Navy's 125th Anniversary celebrations, I caught up with Regimental Sergeant Major-Army and the Senior Enlisted Adviser to the CDF to also add their signatures to this LB. The support of these senior enlisted leaders, along with others who have signed other bags to be auctioned at the Annual Dinner on October 17th, shows the mark of respect they have for this veteran's charity.”

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There is something special about having a whole family of sibling receive quilts as in this case.

“A photo of our second son, Lt Col Daniel Gosling Retd and I with the 15th Anniversary Laundry Bag.

I was a 15th Intake National Serviceman 1969/1971. I was trained as an Infantryman and joined D Company 6 RAR in Vietnam 1969/70.

On leaving the Army on a Friday I joined Guide Dogs Victoria on the following Tuesday on 02 February 1971.

I completed 53 years of service as a Guide Dog Instructor and now volunteer. Our sons, Luke Gosling OAM MP, Dan Gosling (both Army) and Xavier Gosling, RAN all received Aussie Hero Quilts. Thank you for your wonderful service. John Gosling AM”

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And in the spirit of keeping it all in the family.... here is a post that Luke Gosling MP, shared on his social media after signing the same bag.

"Very proud to wish Aussie Hero Quilts (and Laundry Bags) a Happy 15th Birthday.

A huge thank you to Jan-Maree Ball OAM and all the volunteers who put so much care into every quilt and laundry bag sent to deployed ADF members.

When you’re deployed, receiving that little slice of home (made so lovingly and sent so generously) means a lot.

Two amazing AHQ quilts hang on the walls of my Canberra office.

They’ve been seen and admired by plenty of my parliamentary colleagues - including the PM.

Works of art. And works of the heart.

Best wishes to everyone at AHQ and here’s to many more birthdays ahead."

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We have a very proud history of supporting our Invictus Teams, dating back to 2017. I have friends who would not be here today if it was not for the important opportunity the Invictus organisation gives to veterans and so, supporting the teams is important to me. This photo was arranged by Winter Paralympian Taryn Dickens, but it includes many wonderful folk, too many to name.

“After a meet and greet with Prince Harry, Canberra based IG Alumni, their beautiful doggos squeezed in for an AHQ thank you.”

I am also sharing another couple of special photos. The moment when a recipient meets his volunteer. In 2017 at an Invictus Camp we attended to present our laundry bags. There I was able to introduce Pete Rudland to Keryn who made his Wounded Warrior Quilt in previous years. If you don’t know the inspiring Pete, he was injured in the Blackhawk that crashed in Afghanistan in 2010. We were not formed until 2012, but when Pete reached out we were only too happy to make him a quilt. As you can tell, meeting Keryn in 2017 was a very special moment, one of many of my special AHQ memories.

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PART 1 - RADM Terry Morrison, DSM, RAN, Deputy Director Maritime Operations US Pacific Fleet

“My first experience with Aussie Hero Quilts was in 2014, as Commanding Officer of HMAS Darwin. We deployed to the Middle East region for 7 months on Op Slipper to interdict illicit narcotics trade funding terrorism and piracy in the vicinity of Eastern Africa. Before departure, I met with Mrs Jan-Maree Ball and she explained that a group of volunteers would make personalised quilts and laundry bags for the entire crew. I asked Jan-Maree ‘how much the quilts cost?’ an honest response due to my awareness that making these quilts would take considerable time, effort and cost of materials. I was extremely surprised when Jan-Maree explained that the quilts and laundry bags were a gift in recognition of the recipient’s service. I told Jan-Maree I was very keen to be involved. At that time I did not fully appreciate the extraordinary positive impact this opportunity would have on the crew.

Our deployment was particularly successful: we conducted more than 30 boardings and interdicted over 12 tonnes of heroin and hashish across eight of those boardings. To achieve this success, we developed new tactics, including volumetric analysis—systematically measuring and accounting for every space and small cavity onboard the vessels we were boarding, the drilling into the cavities to support visual inspection with a fibre optic camera. Our boardings were very long and arduous. On average, we would discover the cache in approximately 11 hours; our longest search took more than 22 hours. This work was particularly challenging and tiring for the crew, especially those who were part of the boarding team or in the ship’s boats. I was very sensitive to morale and fatigue and spent time talking to the crew to gauge their resilience.

The first delivery of Aussie Hero Quilts (AHQ) and laundry bags arrived during our first port call. The of excitement among those who received a quilt or laundry bag was unmistakable. Many of the recipients carried their works of art around the ship to show to their shipmates. Photos were taken, sent home or posted on social media. The quilts and laundry bags quickly began brightening up the mess decks and the laundry. Before the following port calls the anticipation and excitement built—not just for the opportunity to have a break, but also for the possibility of receiving more gifts from AHQ. This excitement was palpable. I observed how it directly contributed to morale and an increased focus for the crew to work even harder on the next patrol.

Make sure you read PART 2.

Photos at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, on Anzac Day.

RADM Terry Morrison, DSM, RAN, Deputy Director Maritime Operations US Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) with

AVM David Titheridge, CSM, Deputy Commander of US Pacific Air Force (PACAF)

PART 2 from RADM Terry Morrison, DSM, RAN, Deputy Director Maritime Operations US Pacific Fleet (PACFLT)

Unfortunately, one of our shipmates on this deployment - Able Seaman Cameron Green, contracted cancer and became very ill. Through our contact with Aussie Hero Quilts, a Wounded Warrior quilt was organised featuring his favourite English football team. When we delivered it to him in hospital, his eyes lit up, and he expressed immense gratitude on receiving it. This was more than a gift, it was a tangible reminder that he was loved, valued and appreciated—by his mates and his family. This also had a great impact on his closest shipmates, because they could see how much it meant to Cameron and it helped them feel they were supporting him in some way. Sadly, after a valiant fight, Cameron passed away—with his quilt on his bed. It featured at his funeral, reminding his mates of his love for his team and the care shown to him in his time of need.

After the deployment, I interacted with Aussie Hero Quilts on several occasions. I have assisted with quilt and laundry bag deliveries and presentations, and attended the annual Thank You Dinners with my wife, Maridy. Maridy has contributed much more than I, serving as Secretary to the Aussie Hero board. When HMAS Darwin decommissioned, I and several of the previous Commanding Officers sailed with the ship on its last journey from Jervis Bay to Sydney. I was pleased to hear the ship had maintained a close relationship with Aussie Hero Quilts, and I received a laundry bag as a farewell gift.

Over the last twelve years, I have seen the profound impact the quilters at Aussie Hero Quilts have had on the men and women of the ADF; in the hardest moments – whilst deployed, in hospital and in their life after service. The generous work of the Quilters reminds the ADF that many Australian people support and appreciate their service.”

RADM Terry Morrison, DSM, RAN, Deputy Director Maritime Operations US Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) with another recipient, CDRE Paul O’Grady DSM, CSM, RAN, J5 US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), and presentation of the quilt to AB Green’s father

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Well that is it for this week.  Let's see what the Travelling Laundry Bags get up to next week. 

Til then, keep spreading the word and happy stitching! 

Cheers Jan-Maree xxx