It’s only natural, but the sad fact is Butler County’s World War II veterans are becoming fewer and farther between.

That’s why the Center for Development and Civic Engagement at the Abie Abraham VA Clinic Clinic brought the Centenarian Recognition Program to Butler.

In the program, Amy Tomko, chief at the center, creates a shadowbox containing heartfelt mementos and official thanks for the military service of veterans age 100 or older.

Tomko said she heard about the program, which is available nationally through the VA, at a conference and decided it would benefit the Butler County vets whose service was long ago, but still remembered and respected.

“I just felt it was important to honor all of our veterans,” she said. “To be a centenarian is a milestone, and to have them still participating in our health care system is such a great honor.”

Tomko started up the program six months ago, and still is in the process of catching up with all the county veterans who use the VA services and are age 100 or older.

The shadowboxes presented to centenarian veterans include a letter of thanks from Denis McDonough, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and a commemorative Department of Veterans Affairs coin the veteran can carry in his or her pocket.

“In the military, if you are given a coin by a higher-ranking official, it’s considered an honor,” said Tomko, who was an Army combat medic.

Another item given to the centenarian veterans is a quilt handmade in a patriotic pattern and donated by the Pieceful Patchers Charity Group, which meets once per month at Clinton Presbyterian Church on Glade Mill Road in Clinton Township.

The group, which is a branch of the Pieceful Patchers Quilting Guild, of Saxonburg, creates patriotic quilt kits, with fabric, panels, batting and other materials that are taken home by members of both groups and made into a quilt.

Debbie Gottshall, of the charity group, said it takes about 20 hours to create each quilt.

She said her group has been providing quilts to the Butler VA Health Care System for more than 15 years. Once per year, 120 quilts made by group members are taken to the VA.

“I get the joy of hand-delivering them,” Gottshall said. “To see their faces seeing all these beautiful quilts come in, it’s such a joy.”

She said making and delivering the quilts is one small way to demonstrate the two groups’ love for veterans.

“I feel we are showing them our respect,” Gottshall said.

Last year, many of the Pieceful Patchers quilts were distributed at area Stand Down events, where veterans can get free coats, clothing, shoes, boots, food and other items and services.

To initiate the Centenarian Recognition Program, Tomko sent messages to VA social workers and volunteers, who are frequently in contact with the centenarians, and asked them to bring the elderly vets to her office to fill out the project form.

The form is sent to Washington, D.C. and used by McDonough to create a personal, heartfelt letter to the veteran.

Once the letter from McDonough and the coin are procured, Tomko carefully places them into the shadow box and finds out the date of the veteran’s next VA appointment.

Armed with a small cake, the shadow box and the quilt, Tomko and Sharon Coyle, director of the Butler VA Health Care System, surprise the centenarian veteran at that next appointment at the Abie Abraham VA Clinic.

She also invites staff members at the clinic to join in the celebration.

“I developed a little ceremony,” Tomko said. “Sharon and I present it to the centenarian and the family.”

Pictures with VA officials and the veteran and his or her family are then taken near one of the many murals at the clinic that match the veteran’s military branch or other facet of their service.

The most recent Centenarian Recognition Program ceremony was held in honor of Arcangelo Carosi, of Butler Township, whose 100th birthday was celebrated June 1 at American Legion Post 778 in Lyndora.

“The veterans are very appreciative and they feel honored,” Tomko said of the reactions she receives.

She was thrilled to meet Carosi, who also was a combat medic.

“In my service at the VA, I never thought of meeting a World War II veteran who was a combat medic,” Tomko said.

One Centenarian Recognition Program recipient was Dennis “Jim” Bogan, of Penn Township, who celebrated his 100th birthday on June 9.

“Oh boy. What can I say? It was great,” the still-spry Bogan said of receiving the shadow box and quilt from Tomko and Coyle.

He especially appreciated the handmade, patriotic-themed quilt.

“It’s on my big chair in the living room, where I can look at how pretty it is,” Bogan said.

He appreciates the VA.’s efforts to commemorate World War II as the years pass by.

“What would be the situation be in America if we had lost World War II?” Bogan asks. “Many people today don’t even realize what that war was about. “I was in three major battles and I’m very proud of it.”

He also appreciates the care he receives from the Butler VA Health Care System.

“I’m very proud of what the VA does for me,” Bogan said.

Tomko is working on nine Centenarian Recognition Program cases, with two more coming that have not yet been processed.

She said the program’s veterans are often asked their secret to living to be a century old, and often receive answers like “drink a beer every day,” “hard work,” or even “keep breathing.”

“One hundred years old is just amazing,” Tomko said. “To honor someone who has seen so much of our history, to me, is really overwhelming.”