A Quilt of Valor was awarded to Charles Mills, a WWII merchant marine veteran, on May 21, 2025 at an informal dinner held by the American Merchant Marine Veterans at the Marine Memorial Host Hotel in San Francisco. He was one of four WWII Merchant Marine Veterans awarded a QOV by Scarlett Rose, R8 VP of AMMV. Charles sailed throughout WWII and he was a charter member of the National Maritime Union (NMU). Charles would come ashore and serve as an NMU official for four decades. He has participated in all four AMMV “Storm the Hill” events, traveling to Washington DC to meet with lawmakers about passing the WWII Merchant Marine Congressional Gold Medal bill. This bill passed in 2020 and the awarding of medals began in 2022. He remains very active in organizational activities. Charles is the Chair of the AMMV Governmental Affairs Committee. 

Charles Mills was one of four WWII merchant marine veterans to be awarded a Quilt of Valor by Scarlett Rose, Region 8 Vice President of the American Merchant Marine Veterans. Frank Mendez, Claude Perasso and John Edward Laughton were also awarded Quilts of Valor. The Quilts of Valor video from the award ceremony Scarlett held on May 21st after the AMMV dinner has been uploaded to the AMMV youTube Channel. There are video interviews with two of the recipients, Frank Mendez and Claude Perasso. 


These WWII merchant marine veterans, along with WWII merchant marine Dave Yoho who was awarded his Quilt of Valor last year, were in San Francisco to attend the unveiling of the merchant marine plaque at the WWII Memorial in the Presidio on May 22nd. A private luncheon for 100 guests was held afterwards at the Walt Disney Family Museum Memorial Hall.