Gold Star Mothers Day Observed ~ September 29, 2013

The United States began observing Gold Star Mothers Day on the last Sunday of September in 1936. It is a day for people to recognize and honor those who have lost a son or daughter while serving the United States Armed Forces.

Mothers of fallen service members began calling themselves “Gold Star Mothers” during the First World War, but the sorrowful bond they share reaches back to every woman who has lost a son or daughter in uniform since our nation’s revolution.

In 1918 President Woodrow Wilson approved the wearing of black armbands bearing a gold star by those who had a family member who died in the military service to the United States. This distinguished them from the blue stars, representing a family member presently serving in the armed forces.

During World War I, families would hang flags in their windows that were white with red borders, inside, a blue star would represent each family member who was serving in the military. The name the Gold Star Mothers was derived from the custom of military families who when a service member was killed, the blue star was changed to a gold star.

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.

American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. was incorporated in 1929, obtaining a federal charter from the US Congress. It began with 25 mothers living in the Washington DC area and soon expanded to include affiliated groups throughout the nation. On June 23, 1936, a joint congressional resolution designated the last Sunday in September as Gold Star Mother’s Day, a holiday that has been observed each year by a presidential proclamation.

In 1947, the Gold Star Lapel pin was designed and created to be presented to eligible surviving family members of service members who died while deployed in support of overseas contingency operations, or who died from wounds sustained in theater. A gold star symbolizes a family member who died in the line of duty while serving the United States Armed Forces. It may be seen on a service flag or in the form of a pin, which is worn by Gold Star mothers. The pin is not limited to mothers and it is awarded by the US Department of Defense.

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..”