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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jack Rasmussen, a WWII veteran, receives the Quilt of Valor

It’s surprisingly easy to make a Marine cry.

At least it is when you surprise him with a beautifully made Quilt of Valor.

On July 19, Jack Rasmussen, 93, wiped tears from his cheeks as he was presented with a Quilt of Valor by members of the Greater Spokane QOV group. It was a surprise that had been months in the making.

The group was contacted by Rasmussen’s daughter, Terese Pratt, and the presentation was carefully orchestrated. Rasmussen, a WWII veteran, thought he was attending a talk by the Marine Corps League about Toys for Tots at Touchmark on South Hill. He’s a longtime member of the League. Instead, after a brief talk about the program by a representative, Diane Watters, QOV Eastern Washington coordinator, presented him with the quilt.

Bordered in blue with large, cream-colored stars, the quilt features a bald eagle hovering over an American flag – fitting for a man who was on Iwo Jima when that flag was raised.

“The making of this Quilt of Valor for you is our way of saying thank you for all you have done for all of us by stepping up to answer the call to duty, knowing not only that you could, but that you would put yourself in harm’s way for others,” Watters said.

Indeed, Rasmussen was often in harm’s way and has a Purple Heart to prove it.

He grew up in a small town in Utah and enlisted in the Marines at 19, two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Soon he was off to Guadalcanal. He’s never forgotten his first night there.

“The Japanese flew over and I jumped into the first ditch I could find,” he said. Then he laughed. “It was the latrine! The next day we got busy digging foxholes.”

He still has scars from the jungle rot he endured while there, but even that became a source of amusement.

“We turned yellow from the quinine tablets they gave us. Then they had us paint ourselves with purple medicine for the jungle rot and told us to go naked!”

Rasmussen didn’t find much to laugh about at his next posting – Bougainville, where he spent two brutal months on the front line.

“It wasn’t such a bad thing,” he said, shrugging.

Perhaps that was because so much worse was to come – the battle for Guam.

“Guam was my bloodiest battle in the whole thing,” Rasmussen recalled.

His company was part of the first wave of the invasion and his company commander, platoon lieutenant and platoon sergeant were all wounded on the first morning. After receiving first aid, all three returned to battle, only to be killed by the end of the day.

“Me and another corporal took control,” he said.

They remained in command for five days until replacements arrived.

“People asked me if I prayed,” Rasmussen said, shaking his head. “Oh, yes, I had a prayer on my mind the whole time. I prayed, ‘God help me to be a good Marine and bless the Marine on the right of me and the Marine on the left.’ ”

From there he was sent to Iwo Jima, arriving on the third day of fighting. By the time the battle was over, all but two men in his platoon were either killed or wounded.

Rasmussen was told to take a position on the airfield, and within 20 minutes he got shot. Bullets hit his right hand and his gun.

“A corpsman asked if I wanted a shot for the pain,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Hell no, I want to get out of here!’ ”

Bits of shrapnel are still visible in his elbow and hand.

After his discharge, he attended the University of Utah, becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college. He married his wife, LaRee, and in September they will celebrate their 69th anniversary.

Rasmussen spent many years as a soil scientist for the USDA, eventually becoming the State Soil Scientist for Washington before retiring.

Still trim and fit, he is proud of the country he served.

“Patriotism means God bless America,” he said. “I’ve always loved America and I always will.”

As Watters and fellow QOV member Glenda Haddican, herself a veteran, presented him with his quilt, Rasmussen beamed.

“This is a big surprise for me,” he said. “Thank you. I’ll have something to remember the rest of my life.”