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Kosa/Carr surprise reunion a highlight of veterans’ weekend

| 16 Aug 2016 | 01:22
    Fair Sponsorship & Events Manager Kristin Ferraro stands to the side as retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa (center) is reunited with Jeff Carr, a soldier whom Kosa befriended and inspired during the Vietnam War.
    Fair Sponsorship & Events Manager Kristin Ferraro stands to the side as retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa (center) is reunited with Jeff Carr, a soldier whom Kosa befriended and inspired during the Vietnam War.
    Fair Sponsorship & Events Manager Kristin Ferraro stands to the side as retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa (center) is reunited with Jeff Carr, a soldier whom Kosa befriended and inspired during the Vietnam War.
    Fair Sponsorship & Events Manager Kristin Ferraro stands to the side as retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa (center) is reunited with Jeff Carr, a soldier whom Kosa befriended and inspired during the Vietnam War.
    The Kosa and Carr families pause for a group photograph following the presentation.
    The Kosa and Carr families pause for a group photograph following the presentation.
    From left, "Quilts of ValorþÄù presenter Barbara Thomas, quilt recipient retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa, Jeff Carr, and Gale Nederfield open KosaþÄôs quilt for the audience to admire.
    From left, "Quilts of ValorþÄù presenter Barbara Thomas, quilt recipient retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa, Jeff Carr, and Gale Nederfield open KosaþÄôs quilt for the audience to admire.
    The audience applauds as retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa approaches the stage. During the presentation, the front rows were populated by quilters and veterans. The groups that created the patriotically themed quilts included the Fairgrounds Quilters and the Sussex County Quilters.
    The audience applauds as retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa approaches the stage. During the presentation, the front rows were populated by quilters and veterans. The groups that created the patriotically themed quilts included the Fairgrounds Quilters and the Sussex County Quilters.

AUGUSTA — The opening weekend of the New Jersey State Fair included the second annual “Tribute to Our Troops” that included a “Quilts of Valor” presentation on Saturday.
The groups that created the patriotically themed quilts included the Fairgrounds Quilters and the Sussex County Quilters.
The program began with a special event for a recipient, retired Army Lt. Col. and Chaplain Ernie Kosa and a surprise reunion after over 45 years. Former soldier Jeff Carr, now living in Washington State, was greatly moved by Kosa during the Vietnam War. Carr was a Cobra gunship pilot who had little to do with religion, citing that his job was to repeatedly break one of the Ten Commandments. Then he was shot and was gravely wounded and feared he would lose his leg.
At the time, Kosa came to visit him repeatedly while he was in the hospital. Fortunately, Carr’s leg was saved and he was grateful to have had such a skilled surgeon. At the time, Kosa leaned over Carr’s hospital bed and gently asked, “Did you stop to think that someone might have been guiding his hands?”
That brief encounter changed the way Carr would live the rest his life and he is grateful to this day for the lessons he learned through the wisdom of his chaplain.
— Photos by Chris Wyman