Hometown boy, Darren Perri was recently honored for his service to our country with a Quilt of Valor, presented by Gail Shaw, representing the Quilts of Valor Chelan group. The event took place during a Chelan Valley Republican Women meeting at Radiance Winery in Manson.
“This quit is meant to comfort. We consider it a privilege to honor you as we will never know the extent of your sacrifices and service to protect and defend the United State of American. We hope that you will keep it with you as a tangible reminder that no matter where you served, you have never been forgotten,” proclaimed Gail Shaw.
Darren was born and raised in Manson and graduated from Manson High School in 1997. “At an early age I fell in love with the BIG green army trucks I would see going over the pass, on their way to training in Yakima. It was my dream to someday drive one of the trucks,” Darren said.
Darren completed phase 1 of his dream by enlisting in the army in 1997. Darren’s dream moved to phase II by attending Basic Training at Fort Bragg for ten weeks and Advanced Individual Training for 88M for six weeks at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri. The U.S. Army Transportation Corps’ 88M Motor Transport Operators are disciplined, technical experts that provide the Army with motor transportation capabilities to support movement of personnel and cargo.
After completion of training, Darren mainly drove M88 6×6 Tractors with 40ft trailers while stationed at Fort Bragg and Fort Lewis. He drove many miles in FMTV (Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles) and LMTV (Light Medium Tactical Vehicle) cargo trucks. Darren drove for company commanders at both duty stations in HMMWV’s (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles).
While serving for our country, Darren was awarded an Army Commendation medal, two Army Achievement medals and a Humanitarian Award for his efforts in Nicaragua providing hurricane relief efforts in 1999.
“I was Honorably Discharged in 2004 as a Sergeant E5, graduating from the Henry H Lind NCO Academy at Fort Lewis. This was a life achievement for me and will always bring me pride. I feel incredibly honored to receive a Quilt of Valor. It is personally the greatest recognition and feeling of love and appreciation for my service in the United States Army,” Darren said.
Left to Right: Christine Perri (Mother) Jesse Perri (Father) Darren Perri, Stephanie Scott, Mary Beneze (Grandmother)
Darren’s love for the Chelan valley brought him back to Manson after discharge from the service. He started his civilian career driving dump truck for his dad at “Perri Trucking”. Darren held various jobs before securing a position with the Washington State Parks as a Construction and Maintenance Specialist for the Eastern Region. Darren stated, “Washington State Parks is a great organization to work for, with so many beautiful duty stations. I hope to retire from this organization after many more years of service.” Darren is a proud member of the Lake Chelan Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) [Post 6853].
For more information regarding the Quilts of Valor Foundation, contact Sue Freden, Group Leader at lakechelanqov@gmail.com They meet the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 at the Chelan Fire Station.
Submitted by Norm Manly
