Sleep tight, soldier

Martin City woman and friends sew pillowcases for troops

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

A few weeks ago, Mary Jane Church's grandson was on leave from a tour of duty in Iraq. Church, who loves to sew, asked him if there was something she could put together for his unit.

He said they couldn't have flashy colors outside, but in their sleeping quarters, colors were fine. So Church, of Martin City, thought that pillowcases would be a good fit. She figured he'd probably need 10, at the most.

Then her grandson, Spc. Bill Johnson, told her he needed 32 of them. Johnson is the crew chief leader for a Blackhawk helicopter unit. It takes quite a few men to keep one of those birds running.

"I can't leave anyone in the unit out," he said.

Undaunted, Church went to work sewing. These are no ordinary plain Jane pillowcases, either. They're wildlife scenes. Cowboy scenes. Fishing scenes. Bears. Moose. Deer. Elk.

"When I get through, they'll know what Montana is like," she said.

So Church has been holed up in a corner of her store in Hungry Horse, The Country Store Crafters Mall, for the past month sewing pillowcases. Not only is she doing 32 for Johnson, she's sewing 15 more for the neighbor's son, Sgt. Zack Phillips, who is also in Iraq.

Church has put all her own cash into it. Each pillowcase takes about $10 in material, and takes quite a bit of sewing to complete. She's sewn them in such a way so that they don't have to be pillowcases, you can also hang them on a wall.

"They're worth it," she says. "I want them to know this country stands behind them and is proud of what they're doing."

She laments the lack of press given to the war in Iraq, and what little press comes out is not good. She says if you talk to the soldiers on the ground, you'd hear a different story.

Church has had some help from her daughter Cathy Church Nash and friend Marsha Voermans, who also donated material.

Soon the pillowcases will be boxed and off to Iraq. Perhaps a soldier will sleep a little better, knowing a Montana grandma was thinking about him.