Nancy Patterson of Washington County, Fla. Awarded Quilt of Valor
Quilts of Valor Foundation held a small ceremony to present Nancy Patterson, an Army veteran from Washington county, with a quilt for her military service on April 15, 2023, at the Armory Museum of Eglin AFB. The Quilts of Valor Foundation members presented Nancy with her quilt by covering her shoulders with the quilt and thanking her for her time in the Army. The Quilts of Valor Foundation was founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts who was inspired by her son’s service to start a volunteer group that donates their time making quilts for veterans. The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is “to cover Service Members and Veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor”. More information can be found on their website at Quilts of Valor Foundation |. Nancy appreciated the honor and the beautiful quilt and gave a brief reflection on her time in the Army and how it shaped her life and career.
Nancy Patterson joined the US Army in 1971 and served until 1976 to start her family. When she joined the women were part of the US Women’s Army Corp. Two years later the corp. was dissolved and there was only one Army. She served during the Vietnam War and served in the Medical Corps as a Radiologic Technologist. She did her basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and medical training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Nancy had other duty stations at Fort Rucker and Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Nancy was a E-6 or Specialist 6 when she was discharged, and she felt her time in the Army and specifically at the centers in Texas that served Vietnam personnel recovery allowed her to be able to be adaptable to change and multi-tasking and work well under pressure for her post-service career in hospitals.
Nancy married Gregory Patterson, who also was in the Army. After leaving military service, she received an associate degree at Gulf Coast College then went to work at Doctors Memorial Hospital and later worked in Blountstown and retired from Wiregrass Medical Center. She performed radiology, ultrasound, mammograms, and cat scans and could juggle many responsibilities due to her time in service. While she is now retired, she remains active in her church, enjoys assisting at local elementary school book fairs, and is an active council member at the North Bay Lower Muskogee Creek tribal grounds.
