It’s a distinction that many mothers would like to live without. However, the title through time has fostered sacrifice.
Josephine McGuire, whose son Harry (See sidebar) died in Vietnam, looks on the Gold Star Mother title as “heart breaking.”
When she looks at the star hanging in her window, “It just breaks my heart,” she said. “You never ever get over it. I looked many times when I was on Garrison to see him walking down the road like he did when he went to school, with that smile on his face.”
McGuire still wells up with emotion when speaking about her son. She does not look upon the Gold Star Mother title with any sort of pride.
“I don’t,” she said. “I would give anything to have him back.”
American Gold Star Mothers are a class of varying women of generations, incomes, status, religious views and family beliefs, all weaved together by a common thread.
“In the beginning, I hated that term,” said Christine Henderson, whose son Aaron died in Afghanistan. “I did not want to be a ‘Gold Star’ mother because of what it meant. A year into this, I still don’t want to be known as that for the same reason, but that doesn’t change anything does it? I am so proud of Aaron and what he accomplished and sacrificed for all of us. I will forever be a Gold Star mother like it or not, so I will wear the title proudly.”
Sgt. First Class Aaron A. Henderson of A Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, 33, of East Hodgdon died Oct. 2 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit on Sept. 30 with an improvised explosive device in Zombalay Village, Afghanistan.
History
The following information was obtained from the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. website.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, George Vaughn Seibold, 23, volunteered, requesting assignment in aviation. He was sent to Canada where he learned to fly British planes since the United States had neither an air force nor planes. Deployed to England, he was assigned to the British Royal Flying Corps, 148th Aero Squadron. With his squadron, he left for combat duty in France. He corresponded with his family regularly. His mother, Grace Darling Seibold, began to do community service by visiting returning servicemen in the hospitals.
The mail from George stopped. Since all aviators were under British control and authority, the United States could not help the Seibold family with any information about their son.
Grace continued to visit hospitalized veterans in the Washington area, clinging to the hope that her son might have been injured and returned to the United States without any identification. While working through her sorrow, she helped ease the pain of the many servicemen who returned so war-damaged that they were incapable of ever reaching normalcy.
But on October 11, 1918, George’s wife in Chicago received a box marked “Effects of deceased Officer 1st Lt. George Vaughn Seibold”. The Seibolds also received a confirmation of George’s death on November 4th through a family member in Paris.
On Sunday, December 15, 1918, nine days before Christmas Eve, the following obituary appeared in the Washington Star newspaper:
Lieut. G. V. Seibold Killed in Action: Battling Aviator, recently cited for bravery in France, is War Victim.
Lieut. George Vaughn Seibold, battling aviator, cited for bravery in action some time ago, lost his life in a fight in the air August 26, last. His father, George G. Seibold … has been officially notified of his son’s death by the War Department.
Lieut. Seibold was a member of the 148th U. S. Aero Squadron. He was first reported missing in action, though a number of circumstances led to the fear that he had been killed. Hope was sustained until now, however, by the failure to receive definite word.
George’s body was never identified.
Grace, realizing that self-contained grief is self-destructive, devoted her time and efforts to not only working in the hospital but extending the hand of friendship to other mothers whose sons had lost their lives in military service.
She organized a group consisting solely of these special mothers, with the purpose of not only comforting each other, but giving loving care to hospitalized veterans confined in government hospitals far from home.
The organization was named after the Gold Star that families hung in their windows in honor of the deceased veteran.
After years of planning, June 4, 1928, 25 mothers met in Washington, DC to establish the national organization, American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.
The success of our organization continues because of the bond of mutual love, sympathy, and support of the many loyal, capable, and patriotic mothers who while sharing their grief and their pride, have channeled their time, efforts and gifts to lessening the pain of others.
We stand tall and proud by honoring our children, assisting our veterans, supporting our nation, and healing with each other.
On May 28, 1918, President Wilson approved a suggestion made by the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defenses that, instead of wearing conventional mourning for relatives who have died in the service of their country, American women should wear a black band on the left arm with a gilt star on the band for each member of the family who has given his life for the nation.
“The Service Flag displayed from homes, places of business, churches, schools, etc., to indicate the number of members of the family or organizations who are serving in the Armed Forces or who have died from such service. Service flags have a deep Blue Star for each living member in the service and a Gold Star for each member who has died.” Thus, the Gold Star and the term Gold Star Mother, as applied to mothers whose sons or daughters died in World War I, were accepted; they have continued to be used in reference to all American military engagements since that time.
A banner hanging in a window with a white field ,
a thick red border and a blue star in the center
is the Service Flag, which has been around since World War I, indicating that a family has a son or a daughter, a spouse or a sibling, serving in the armed forces during a time of war.
During World War II, it was not uncommon to see banners hanging in windows with three or four blue stars as multiple members of a family were fighting overseas.
Much less frequently you might see the same banner, only instead of a dark blue star, there will be a gold one meaning that family lost a loved one in the service of their country.
Gold Star Mothers are women who have literally borne the troops that have made the ultimate sacrifice.
For them, the war doesn’t end.
From Time.com
Sept. 30, 2012
