MANCHESTER – Sacrifice. Courage. Service. Dedication.

That is the American veteran. Yesterday they were honored -- not with medals, wreathes or Taps -- but with the comfort of home.

Nearly 100 soldiers, sailors, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars received personalized quilts handmade in New Hampshire and across the nation for the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

"We hope when you wrap yourselves up in your quilts that you will remember that every stitch was sewn with remembrance, thankfulness, admiration and love," local quilter Vicki Lemire told the estimated 400 to 500 veterans and their families at the Quilts of Valor and Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center Program at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom.

"This is such a wonderful expression of welcoming home -- gathering people around quilts handmade by Americans dedicated to thanking you for what you've done," U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., told the group.

Gregg thanked veterans who fought against those engaged in the "fundamentalist Islamic cause with the purpose of destroying us."

►Click here for photos from yesterday's ceremony.
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"We may have seen a situation of it at Fort Hood recently. We clearly saw it on Sept. 11. And the threat of a weapon of mass destruction is always there," he said.

"Our capacity to survive and succeed in this struggle is entirely tied to what you have done in serving our nation, in going to these far-away places and standing up for our values and making sure that we find them before they come here," Gregg said.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation has given about 24,000 quilts as gifts to returning veterans since it was founded in 2003, said Maj. Gen. William N. Reddel, adjutant general of the New Hampshire National Guard.

"Taking care of our warriors has no place for politics or competition. It's about taking care of our warriors. And we need to do that every day," he said.

Chris Burritt of Henniker accepted the quilt made for her son, New Hampshire Army National Guard Capt. Adam Burritt, who completed two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and currently is in training for a third.

Looking at the inside patch sewn on by the quilter, Chris Burritt was pleased to see the quilt not only was made in nearby Warner, but by a member of a family she likely grew up with.

"It's awesome. Everybody who has gotten a quilt seems to have made a connection with the people who made it," Burritt said.

The ceremony included a slide show of New Hampshire's 64 fallen warriors.