Horn for Congress Blog
Gold Star Mothers Event
No campaigning this morning - I have a good friend who is a Blue Star Mother x 2, invited me to attend the ground breaking for the Gold Star Mother memorial in Manchester, followed by the installation at the Armory.
Over the years I have been honored to meet, interview and even become friends with many military family members; moms, wives, sisters, husbands, fathers...these are the forgotten heroes of freedom. No one else can ever imagine the depth of their sacrifice.
Every day that we live in freedom, a child goes to school without his mother's embrace to send him off. A wife sleeps alone, praying throughout the night that the phone will not ring. A mother waits patiently for a call, a note, an email, from her son or daughter.
When the military is deployed, families around the country learn how to live, and sleep, and breathe even though they are not whole.
This mornings ceremony was particularly poignant because it honored those mothers who have lost a child to war. There were so many of them there - and too many more who could not be there. World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and of course, many young mothers from the current war.
Always we must be aware of the sacrifice that pays for our freedom; those who serve away from their families for months or years at a time, those who live every day hoping to hear from a loved one far, far away, and above all others, those who willingly lay down their lives in defense of their nation.
A mother can endure no pain greater than losing a child - the honor of knowing that your son or daughter died a hero does not take that away.
We must never forget the sacrifice of those who make it possible for a democracy such as ours to even exist.
Terry Davis, President of Mass. Gold Star Mothers Organization and Past President (1997-98) of the National American Gold Star Mothers Organization
Major General Kenneth R. Clark, Adjutant General of the NH National Guard
Paid for and Authorized by Jennifer Horn for Congress