Some honor their country by using guns and bombs on the battlefield.

Others use a needle and thread.

Nine months ago, Annette Frye of Pendleton began sewing a quilt in memory of her son’s fallen military comrades. Master Sgt. Ronnie “Bo” Brickey served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan doing bomb disposal for the Air Force. Along the way, he received five Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. During one of his 500 missions, he shielded two of his team members from a blast with his armored body, likely saving their lives.

It’s a dangerous career field. Twenty of Brickey’s fellow bomb technicians never made it home. He contemplated ways to honor them. When his mom suggested a quilt, he urged her to sew one bearing the Explosive Ordinance Disposal insignia and the names of the fallen. Frye agreed to give it a go.

There was only one problem — Frye wasn’t a quilter.

“You can do it, Mom,” she remembers Brickey telling her. “I believe in you.”

To understand why Frye might want to attempt this daunting task, one must go back a while to when her two sons (the other is an Air Force pilot) deployed overseas. As they headed into harm’s way, she looked for ways to support her boys and the other troops.

She joined a group of “Mama and Papa Bears,” who created care packages to send overseas. Boxes contained elk meat jerky, cookies, Christmas letters from local students and other treats.

“Her jerky and raspberry jam strips have been around the world,” said Brickey, who is currently stationed at Hurlburt Field in Florida. “Guys would literally fight over them.”

That was one way of serving those who serve. Sewing the quilt was another — if she could figure out how to do it. She walked across the street and knocked on the door of friend and neighbor Cathy Brandhagen. As the veteran quilter listened to Frye’s idea, she was both impressed and dubious. Frye hadn’t even used her sewing machine for 33 years.

“The first thing you need to do is change the needle,” Brandhagen joked.

But Brandhagen knew Frye’s tenacity and talents in other arenas such as gardening, writing and crafting.

“I told her, ‘OK, let’s give it a whirl,” Brandhagen said.

With Brandhagen, Brickey and husband Dave as cheerleaders, Frye plunged ahead. She learned techniques and styles and designed the quilt with the 20 names surrounding the EOD insignia, called the “EOD Crab.” The badge, made from Pendleton wool, contains a wreath, unexploded bomb, two lightning bolts and a shield. The lightning bolts symbolize the potential destructive power of the bomb. The shield represents the mission to protect life, limb and property. The laurel memorializes bomb technicians who gave their lives.

Frye, who works as business assistant at the Pendleton School District, labored over the quilt during evenings, weekends and wee hours of the morning. More than once, she tore out stitches and started over. Classes and Internet searches provided more guidance.

Frye shed some tears over the 20 names on the quilt. Tech. Sgt. Anthony Capra, Bo’s first team leader, had left behind his wife, five children, his parents and 11 younger siblings. He died while conducting a post-blast analysis of a roadside bomb crater, finding a second explosive that detonated. Bo had attended EOD school with Tech. Sgt. Phil Myers and they worked together in Baghdad, where they were both team leaders. On the back of the quilt is a quote from Myers, who said, “EOD techs don’t die, they go to heaven to regroup.”

One woman’s name appears on the quilt, Senior Airman Elizabeth Loncki. She was one of three on Team Lima killed by a large vehicle-borne IED. The team successfully executed 194 missions in Baghdad.

Frye designed and pieced together the quilt and had Johanne Moore sew the layers together. Brandhagen and Brickey were impressed with the final product.

“She simply did an amazing job,” Brandhagen said, “especially when you stop to consider how little she knew before starting this quilt. This is truly a work of art from the heart.”

Brickey, who joined the Air Force at age 18, said his mother stitched the quilt for more than just him.

“The quilt wasn’t for me — it was for my brothers and the EOD family,” he said.

Frye said her quilt is for the living as well as the fallen.

“It’s important for these guys to know they will never be forgotten,” she said.

The quilt hangs at Thimbles Fabric N More in Pendleton for two more weeks. Frye will then package it up and send it to Brickey in Florida to be auctioned off in May at an EOD Warrior Foundation banquet. Auction proceeds provide financial assistance and college scholarships to families of the fallen.

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Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810