Docs Gold Star Mothers Page

"GOLD STAR MOTHERS"
SONG NOW PLAYING IS WRITTEN BY RON HEALY & SUNG BY DAVE HUMMEL
THIS SONG WAS SUNG LIVE AT "DOCS" POW-MIA BALLOON LAUNCH IN MILWAUKEE
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF THE SONG - LET ME KNOW

Gold Star Mothers Day
Sunday, September 29, 2013

On June 4, 1928 a group of 25 mothers in Washington, DC began plans for a national organization to be known as
AMERICAN GOLD STAR MOTHERS, INC.
They incorporated the following January 5th with 65 charter members.

Eleven years after the end of World War I, the United States Congress took an unprecedented step in the history
of warfare, giving unusual recognition to the mothers of those killed in that war.
In 1929 a law was passed authorizing the Federal Government to disburse funds
for these Gold Star Mothers and Widows (whether they belonged to the
organization or not), to travel to the battlefields of Europe to visit the burial sites of their loved ones.
On February 7, 1930, First Lady Lou Henry Hoover pulled 54 envelopes out of a
large silver bowl in the Red Room of the White House.
Each envelope contained a card with the name of a state or US Territory. The first state to be drawn was the State of
Nebraska, and as each subsequent card was drawn it was handed to the Quartermaster General for disposition.

On May 7th of that same year the first 231 Gold Star Mothers and Widows boarded the S.S. America in New York to
visit the sites where their sons or husbands had made the supreme sacrifice for freedom.
Over the following 3 years, a total of 6,692 such pilgrimages were made.

It was an unprecedented gesture by a grateful Nation, in recognition of the sacrifices on the home front.

On June 23, 1936 the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 115 (49 Stat.1895), further recognized the sacrifice
of these Gold Star Mothers when it set aside the last Sunday in September of each year as Gold Star Mothers Day,
and authorized the President to issue a proclamation in observance of that day.

In the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, "There is nothing adequate which anyone in any place can
say to those who are entitled to display the gold star in their windows America lives in freedom because of the
sacrifices of America's finest citizens and of the mothers who raised them.."

Perhaps the single most famous mother to have joined was Aletta Sullivan, the mother of the five Sullivan brothers,
who were killed in action when their ship, the USS Juneau (CL-52) was sunk on November 13, 1942 during the Naval Battle ofGuadalcanal.
There were 60,000 Gold Star Mothers alone from World War I

GOLD STAR MOTHERS PILGRIMAGE - HISTORY

Universal Gold Star License Plates
New York Times Article
By Dr. Gary Farwell
"During World War I, military families started a tradition of hanging a small banner in the windows of their homes.
The banner had a white background, a red border and one blue star for each family member in the military.
If a family member died in service, a gold star replaced the blue.
That gold star has become a simple, cherished symbol of a dead loved one, a parent’s way to hold tight a dead child’s memory.
In 1928, the American Gold Star Mothers were given a charter by Congress, and at the end of World War II the Gold Star Wives
of America were also given a Congressional charter. The definition has remained constant to this day. The current president
of the American Gold Star Mothers is Norma Luther, whose son died piloting a helicopter in the Bavarian mountains in Germany
on a routine, obviously noncombat, mission. She says of the 32 mothers who signed the original charter, “5 were mothers of sons
lost from influenza, pneumonia, aircraft accident in Texas and accidental gasoline torch explosion in Italy.”

In a 1967 directive, the Defense Department reissued the set of standards that formalized the display of the Blue and
Gold Star Service Flag, and in it the Gold Star family continued to be defined as a family who had lost a loved one in the service of the country in a time of war.

In 1949, the Defense Department started awarding all Gold Star families what is now the first version of the Gold Star pin for
all wartime deaths retroactive to World War I. But then, in 1973, the department started awarding two versions of Gold Star pins
to recently bereaved military families: one for certain conflicts, and another version for nonconflicts or differently defined conflicts.
The department did this even though the Gold Star mothers, the Gold Star wives and the Defense Department’s own directive make no such distinctions.

For most of us Gold Star families (but I’m sure not all), the idea of having two different Gold Stars seems to miss the point.
The honor given to a family for the death of a loved one should not vary depending on details of where and when it happened —
at least in the eyes and heart of this Gold Star father. About 34 states seem to agree, as they issue universal versions of a Gold Star family license plate to all Gold Star families.
But Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, Ohio, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Maine, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine,
Massachusetts, Mississippi and Oklahoma have decided that only those families whose loved ones died in combat or a combat zone
should receive their states’ Gold Star status. That means that even Norma Luther, the current president of the
American Gold Star Mothers, would not qualify, if she lived in one of those states."

The Final Roll Call

We thought of you with love today
But that is nothing new

We thought about you yesterday
And days before that too

We think of you in silence
We often speak your name

Now all we have are memories
And your picture in a frame

Your memory is our keepsake
With which we'll never part

God has you in His keeping
We have you in our Heart

Author Unknown

Gold Star Mothers Song - 1926
Vernon Dalhart-1st Country Singer with a song on a record
Listen Carefully - Its really an old recording - But its very Special

Hello Doc
I am a Gold Star Mother of LCpl Benjamin H. Gearheart.
I came upon your web page tonight and wish to thank you for it.
I left this page feeling a great sense of caring and understanding from you.
The "Gold Star Mothers" song that was playing. It truly touched my heart.
Sincerely,
Brenda Gearheart

Andrew Chernak creation

HISTORY OF THE GOLD STAR MOTHERS' PILGRIMAGES

This medal was made by Tiffany of NYC and given to all mothers and widows who went on the pilgrimage to the battlefields and cemeteries of France in 1930.
Sponsored by the United States Steamship Line.
The medal is bronze with a gold star at the top.
It hung from a narrow red, white, and blue ribbon and worn at the neck.
Each medal is numbered, but who the recipients were is unknown.

MY ADOPTED GOLD STAR MOM
LINDA DRIZA
PHILADELPHIA,PA.
"MISS YOU MOM"

Contact Doc

Linda Driza
Gone but not Forgotten
November 2001
I will miss her Dearly!

Doc & Linda
11/11/1997
WE MET IN WASH.D.C. AT OPERATION LZ/DC
15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WALL!
HER SON STAN & I WERE BOTH MEDICS IN VIETNAM
SHE WAS A WONDERFUL/FUN-ENERGETIC-FULL OF LOVE MOM
WE DANCED TOGETHER-HUGGED TOGETHER-CRIED TOGETHER
GOD I MISS HER-ALWAYS CHERISH THE MOMENTS-7-25-2008

STAN DRIZA
MEDIC WITH THE 2/27TH WOLFHOUNDS
CuChi,Vietnam
KIA DECEMBER 22,1967
Doc met Stan for a brief moment in '67'
Doc was a Medic right down the road from Stan...

CLICK ON LOGO ABOVE

Grace D. Seibold
First Gold Star Mother

WWI Gold Star Mom's
With Permission From @: Bob Chada

Mrs. Henrietta Kongable	Mrs. W. A. Richmond	Mrs. E. L. Hirschi
Mrs. F. E. Moorman	Mrs. W. W. Rahe	Mrs. Cora Hawkins

OLD GOLD STAR BRIDGE HELD MANY MEMORIES

The local chapter of the Gold Star Mothers formed in the early 1930s.
The photo above is believed to have been taken in the 1930s or early 1940s.
The members are (L-R/seated): Mrs. John Sherman, Mrs. Godfrey Kah and Mrs. Julia Heiland; (standing)
Mrs. Anna Nettleship, Mrs. D.W. (Minnie) Williams, Mrs. Walter Pence, Mrs. Richard Hayner, and
Mrs. H.A. (Buelah) Fogt.
A few motorists heading south of Sidney on County Road 25 A take the suggested detour across the Great Miami River past the
jail, but most elect to continue southward and go up Sulphur Heights Hill, bypassing the rapidly concluding construction project
that will result in a new bridge over the river. To most the site is but another construction nuisance
to be left in the rearview mirror, amid a cloud of dust.
Few realize that the ceremony marking the opening of the original bridge in 1933 caused over 5,000 people to march from downtown
Sidney there to pay tribute to a group that always pays the ultimate sacrifice in wartime, but is now largely forgotten: the Gold Star
Mothers. Many will remember this Veterans' Day on November 11 at the bridge, when the new structure is rededicated, and the
surviving Gold Star Mothers recognized. This is the story of the Mothers and how the bridge came to bear their name.

When the battlefield sounds of The World War (as World War I was then known) faded away, numerous veterans groups such as
the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars were organized to commemorate the memory of those who had
died in the great conflict. Formed of those who survived, these groups honored their comrades in arms routinely on such occasions as
Memorial Day and Armistice Day. The healing process for them had begun. For another group, the broken hearts would never heal.

Doc,
I have attached a poem you might wish to add to your web page.
I lost my son, combat medic Keith Allen Campbell, DSC, BSM, PH 8 Feb 1967 in Vietnam.
I will always miss him. Esther B.Campbell Gates, San Antonio, TX
Gold Star Mom
The banner was small,but the star was large,
The color of a blue, night sky.
She hung it in the window with trembling fingers
And tried hard not to cry.
He was so young to go far away
As all soldiers have to do. She knew that danger
Lurked everywhere,
As she touched the star of blue.
The weeks went by, the months rolled on
She knew he would not die.
Her faith in God held her head up high.
In her heart she sang a song.
But the battles raged. The news was not good
Why did so many have to die? She was cold,
And she felt terribly old
As the day came that she faced with dread.
When a knock on the door
Shattered her life evermore,
And the blue star turned to gold.

Esther B. Campbell Gates

CLICK ON LOGO ABOVE

The International Society of Poets, has awarded their OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN POETRY
award to Board Member Esther Gates, for this poem. This work will be published by the Gold Star Mothers of America
in their next publication. It has also been published on the "Poetry of Arlington Cemetery.com" web page.

The President of the American Gold Star Mothers with a French Gold Star Mother at Dony Cemetery, France, in October 1925.
© BETTMANN/CORBIS

Andrew Chernak creation
GOLD STAR MOTHERS STATUE

Is it true that Hillary Clinton refused to meet with a group of American Gold Star Mothers?
No
This story passed through several people before being reported by NewsMax on May 26, 2001 and the details were lost.
The two mothers who visited Washington did not have an appointment with the Senator and she was not in her office on that day.
The NewsMax article did not get the story correct and we deeply regret the misunderstanding about
Senator Hillary Clinton. Senator Clinton greeted us gratiously on Gold Star Mothers Sunday, 2005.

CLICK ON LOGO ABOVE

THE NEWS....

It's Monday, I am doing laundy thinking of you my dear son
I hear a car pull up and I go to the door to see
I see the two men in uniform
My heart begins to race
Thoughts of no, no, no, go away, please go away
Oh God, let it not be my son
He is so young, no I am not done loving him

I open the door and they say we are sorry...
NO NO NO I scream
They continue, the President of the United States
regrets to inform you of the death of your son

The rest of their words falls on deaf ears
I feel my heart breaking so badly
I fall to the floor saying...
my son is no more....

Kerry "Doc" Pardue

Gold Star Mother gets to keep license plate
The Associated Press - 6.30.2011
CATO, N.Y. — An 89-year-old Gold Star mother from central New York is getting back the special license plate she was forced to relinquish.
When she took her car off the road in May, Ethel Barnes of Cato asked the state Department of Motor Vehicles
office if she could keep the plate that paid tribute to her son Robert Barnes, an Army infantryman who died in Vietnam 44 years ago at age 21.
She was dismayed when told it was impossible.
The Syracuse Post-Standard reports that state Sen. Patty Ritchie stepped in and persuaded DMV to recreate the license plate.
The replica will be presented to Barnes Thursday afternoon. She plans to display it with her son's medals.

Gold Star Mothers accept its first Non-Citizen
September 2005
Carmen Palmer of Mount Vernon, New York, who was born in Jamaica - as a member. The group had banned non-citizens for the
first 77 years of its existence, most notably rejecting the application of Ligaya Lagman whose son Anthony was killed while serving in
Afghanistan. Palmer's son, Marine Cpl. Bernard Gooden, died in 2003 in Iraq at age 22.

Gold Star family members ride in Milwaukee, Wi. Vets Day Parade

Missouri Gold Star Mothers with General John J. Pershing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,
Arlington National Cemetery, September 21, 1930

The Staten Island Ferry
had a boat in the 1937 series named Gold Star Mother,
in honor of the nations GSM's.Here are two photos from
The Staten Island Ferry by George W. Hilton, published in 1964.

Thanks Joseph D.Korman for allowing me to put the story & photos
on this Gold Star Moms site..

Gold Star Mother Presentation in 1954

AMERICAN GOLD STAR MOTHERS INC.

GOLD STAR MOMS

ThisRandom Acts of Kindness Webring site is owned by
JEFF DOC DENTICE

Want to join the Random Acts of Kindness Webring?

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Gold Star Mothers: Helping Others Help Themselves

By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2000 -- "I think before we send young
men and women anywhere to fight, we'd better be ready to
take care of them when they come home," Mary Wheeler said.
"I don't mean just token appreciation. I mean take care of them."

With tear-glazed eyes, Wheeler said sadly that she
sometimes sits and wonders where America would be today if
young men and women had refused to fight "when we were
first starting our country."

"Where would we be? What would we be doing?" asked Wheeler,
president of American Gold Star Mothers Inc. She still
grieves over the loss of her son in Vietnam more than 32
years ago. She's devoted the past 31 years of her life
thanking veterans and service members for their sacrifices
-- and invoking other Americans to do the same.

Members of Wheeler's group are mothers whose son or
daughter died on active duty. Gold Star Mothers got their
name from a practice that began during World War I of
families hanging flags emblazoned with a dark blue star for
each living member in the service and a gold one for each
who had died. Mothers whose children are listed as missing
can also join the organization.
"By helping others, I helped myself," she said. "All
veterans are my boys and girls. It's what we imagine our
son or daughter might be doing, or what their life would be
like if they were here now. The main thrust of our
organization is to help our veterans and mothers whose sons
or daughters didn't come home.

"There are not many members in our home chapter here in
Washington and they're all getting old," Wheeler said. "We
have members across the country who are 100 years old and
several in their 90s." She estimated the group has about
2,000 members nationwide.

Veterans Website's By Jeff "Doc" Dentice
I Will Help All Veterans-All Military Men & Women & Their Families
If AnyOne Hits The Lottery-Doc really needs some support.
Keeping his Vets sites online - Ink - Paper - New computer etc.

E-mail Doc

Sites Created By "Doc" For All Military/Veterans