Gold Star Mother’s Group Began During WWI

By Chuck N. Baker

Gold Star Mother’s Day is observed each year in the United States on the last Sunday of September. This year the day is September 29, a day for individuals to recognize and honor those who have lost children in the service of the United States Armed Forces.

American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. is an organization of mothers whose sons and daughters served and died, while on duty, in times of war or conflict. The national organization puts together major events on or around Gold Star Mother’s Day each year. Although it is not a designated public holiday, government buildings are required to display the flag.

The name, Gold Star Mothers, dates back from the WWI custom of military families who placed service flags near their front window. The flags would feature a blue star for each family member serving their country. Gold stars were reserved for families who lost a loved one in the line of duty.

In Southern Nevada, there was a chapter of the Gold Star Mothers, but it disbanded several years ago. Resident Marina Vance was active in the chapter. Her son, Army soldier Ignacio Ramirez lost his life in Iraq in 2006. He was laid to rest at the veterans’ cemetery in Boulder City. “The group used to have a service every year on Gold Star Mother’s Day,” she said, adding, “If there is no service this year, I will just go to the cemetery on my own.”

She said her son was nicknamed Nacho and had a great sense of humor. In 2016 during a memorial service for Nacho at the cemetery, the sprinklers came on and showered an area where family and friends were standing. Nacho wouldn’t have cared, telling everyone, “It made people laugh. My boy was a happy boy, a smiling boy.”

American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. was incorporated in 1929, obtaining a federal charter from the United States Congress. It began with 25 mothers living in the Washington, D.C. 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 2016, President Barack Obama proclaimed Gold Star Mother’s Day to be known as Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, an expansion of the long-standing tradition. He wrote, “I call upon all Government officials to display the flag of the United States over Government buildings on this special day. I also encourage the American people to display the flag and hold appropriate ceremonies as a public expression of our nation’s gratitude and respect for our Gold Star Mothers and Families.”

In Southern Nevada, the Gold Star Mothers Memorial is located in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Senior Center on Las Vegas Boulevard and Bonanza. It was erected in 1952 by the organization’s Desert Chapter. A marker lists the names of those from Clark County who died in WWI, WWII and Korea, defending the nation during wartime. It also has the names of the Gold Star Mothers who dedicated the memorial. It includes the text, “Our hearts hold these names of our heroic dead from Clark County in honored memory. They gave their lives in the service in the wars that peace and freedom might come to all men. God grant them eternal rest.”