Please add my family and my thanks for his service. The skirt can be made out of anything. I am sure that he just wants a memory of home.Be sure to find out how big he wants it. You don't want the skirt to over shadow the tree. When I made one for my son I found out how big the tree was and then went from there. I wanted it to go as far as the branches reach, all the way around. I just cut a big circle and slit half up the circle. I used cotton for the top and heavy washable felt for the bottom. I used velco on each side of the split so he could adjust it. BrendaK