DND RESCUE 420 MEMORY QUILT

We had arrived in Goose Bay just 4 days before Rescue helicopter 420 on a searching and rescue mission went down with 4 souls on board, killing two and severely injuring the other two.

This is a quilt made in memory of that crash in honor of those that were on board and two that died.

Charlene Pulaski's husband was one of the severely injured that day.  Her husband very nearly was not saved because during those days the search and rescue helicopters were painted green making it difficult to find the crash site in the trees on the side of the mountain.

Charlene made it her personal mission and took it all the way to the Defence Minister himself to have the helicopters "put back the way they were" and once again painted yellow and she won.  Hopefully, because of her cause there will be no more helicopter's that can't be found because of camoflage.

Women and young girls came together to make squares for this quilt.  The squares represented all the things that Julie and Colin, who died that day, loved.  Their hobbies, dreams and homes.  It was my job to put it all together.  To make all the squares lay flat so it could be quilted.

It took me exactly 14 days, some 12-14 hours a day to prepare it, quilt it, bind it and prepare it for hanging on time for the a special visit from the Minister of National Defence in a newly yellow painted search and rescue helicopter.  The quilt toured Canada going to all the search and rescue squadrons through out Canada.

The padre's wife asked that quilt birds of peace into the quilt which I did.

  I recall that is was 7 ft. x 4 ft.  I bound it in the search and rescue colours.  I was very heavily quilted and was very heavy.  I had to make a heavy duty hanging system to hold the weight of the quilt.

I do not know where it is today.  Possibly in the Goose Bay, Labrador museum.