Sandy Rathbun, our neighbor and KVOA Channel 4 reporter did a story on The Veterans Day Parade in Tucson and interviewed, among others, our friend Salette Latas. Click on the link below to see the segment of these Blue Star Moms.
Mothers carry Blue Stars in parade
CORRECTION: Salette pointed out, since the passing of her military hero son Jesse, she is now a "GOLD STAR MOM"---as a result of that tragic loss.
Please see Salette's comment.
5 comments:
Thank you for posting this, Art.
While I used to be a Blue Star Mom, I'm now a Gold Star Mom. In the service flag tradition, started in World War I, families would hang a banner in their windows with one blue star for every family member in the military. If the service member died, the family sewed a gold star over the blue star.
I've started a local organization for Gold Star Families:
Gold Star Families of Arizona
I participated in the parade to honor of the 146 Arizona families who lost soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, the many others who lost active duty family members in previous decades, and the countless others who died of their injuries or illnesses after returning home.
Sadly, CBS News just reported today that in the 45 states that gave them data for 2005, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year. The highest rates were among vets 20-24 returning from the Middle East.
Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans
I'd be honored if you would link to my Gold Star Families of Arizona site from your page.
I'm very sorry for her loss, however, I'm not sure she's a "Gold Star Mother" in the truest sense.
From www.goldstarmoms.com
...and whose son or daughter has made the supreme sacrifice while in the service of the United States of America Armed Forces, or died as a result of such service...
Jesse was medically evacuated from Iraq, treated at Walter Reed, and died on active duty. He was buried with full military honors at Southern Arizona Veterans Cemetery.
I received the Gold Star from the Casualty Affairs Officer at Fort Huachuca.
I seem to remember reading an article where one of Jesse's doctors stated that he believed Jesse's cancer returned because of the enormous amount of stress he was under while in Iraq. Stress weakens your immune system. I know that from working in medicine for 20 years.
So Jesse did make "the supreme sacrifice while in the service of the...armed forces."
There are soldiers who were exposed to toxic substances while in the army, and then a year or two after returning home, they are diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer that is traced back to the substance that they were exposed to. They didn't die on the battlefield, but they still died as a result of their service.
The veterans and Mom's are all "Stars", I don't notice the color distinction!!
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