[ampaterry]

Thank you, guys, for the support here - it is appreciated!

Today is another special recognition day. A congressional resolution which was approved June 23, 1936, designated the last Sunday of September - today - as Gold Star Mothers Day. A Gold Star Mother is any woman who has lost a son or daughter in service to the United States.
The history of this day began during WW I when families hung a “service flag” in their windows. On this banner, they had a blue star for each family member that was in the military. If a family member had been killed in the war, they put a gold star on this banner for them. Shortly after this war, the Gold Star Mothers Club was formed in the United States to provide support for mothers who had lost a son or daughter in the service.
In 2009, the Marine Parents group began an initiative to encourage Americans to light a “luminary” on this day. The luminary is made by taking a paper sack, opening it, and folding the top down to hold the top open. Then a five point star 2” across is cut in one side of the bag, and a cup of sand is poured into the bottom. These are set outdoors in safe places, and a tea candle is pressed into the sand at the center bottom of the bag The candles are then lit at Sundown today.

There was a fire crew that was going through a burnt-out section of forest and found an eagle, petrified in baked ash, still upright at the base of a tree. They nudged her to verify that she was indeed dead, and her lifeless body fell over, revealing several very alive eaglets which she had sacrificed her own life to protect when the fire burned over them. She could have flown to safety, but instead she gave her life to protect her children.
Most parents feel that way; it is ingrained into us to protect our children at all costs. For this reason, it is especially horrible for a parent to loose a child who is, in effect, protecting them instead.
The word of God tells us Children are a blessing from God:
Psalm 127:3-4 (KJV); Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
May God grant a measure of peace today on all those who have lost a loved one in the service, and a special blessings on all mothers who have lost a child in the defense of their country.

God bless each of you, guys -