Stories of Courage:Blue Star Moms

Stories of Courage is an ongoing series of specials that put the spotlight on the men and women who serve in the armed forces, and the families who support them from the home front on HLN.

• HLN's Robin Meade visits a tight knit group of women who all have a son or daughter serving in the military
• One word that sums up this group, "sisterhood"

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Tunnel To Towers: Partners: Blue Star Mothers of America

In 2011, we had eight local Blue Star Mothers of America Chapters host a Tunnel To Towers event in their city. We hope that all eight of them join us again in 2012, and perhaps many more based on some of the successes we enjoyed together.

So, what do they do? They support the troops. 


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American Legion Auxiliary, Billy Peterson Unit 165 and Nancy Hansen « Middlesex County Blue Star Mothers Blog

"On behalf of the Middlesex County Blue Star Mothers-CT3 and the Scholarship Committee, we would like to thank the American Legion Auxiliary, Billy Peterson Unit 165 and Nancy Hansen from Wolcott, CT for their very generous donation of $500.00 to our Scholarship fund. It is very much appreciated."American Legion Auxiliary, Billy Peterson Unit 165 and Nancy Hansen « Middlesex County Blue Star Mothers Blog:

Danbury military museum gets its blue star

"During World War II, families who had a son or a daughter serving in the armed forces hung a read and white banner in their window with a blue star in the center.
If the soldier or sailor was lost in the war, the blue star was replaced with a gold star.
When the Military Museum of Southern New England in Danbury started gathering artifacts for a new display on the home front, it needed a World War II blue star banner to hang next to the gold star banner it already had."
Millions of the blue star banners hung across the nation during the 1940s, so it was thought finding one would be easy. Wrong.
Like so many reminders of war, they'd been discarded or packed away in boxes and forgotten by a nation eagerly embracing peacetime.
Word of the search reached Bethel resident Pat Wilson-Perkins, president of the Blue Star Mothers Northern Fairfield Chapter, which serves Putnam County, N.Y., and this part of Connecticut.
She located Miguel Espinosa of Danbury, a World War II veteran and former president of the Rotary Club of Danbury. Espinosa still had the blue star his mother proudly hung in Mexico City while awaiting his return.
more...
Danbury military museum gets its blue star - NewsTimes:

Cromwell Residents Offer Thanks To Troops During Holiday Season -- Courant.com

"CROMWELL — - 'We are thinking of you.'

'Thank you for keeping us safe.'

'Keep up the good work.'

The words were as simple as the meeting room they were spoken in Wednesday evening at town hall. But every syllable came from the heart.

One by one, they sat at the wooden table that held a microphone and tape recorder. Jennifer Donohue; her daughter, Kathryn Goldner, 9; and son, Patrick Goldner, 12, were all a little nervous. But although they had no specific service member in mind as they leaned in to speak, they knew it was important to let the troops know they were thinking of them."...

..."The messages that people are sending will be uploaded to a computer file and continuously broadcasted between songs on CNX during the holidays. Because the station can be accessed globally, the greetings will reach many different listeners, said Clark, including U.S. soldiers on military bases throughout the world.Among those who came out Wednesday were Cromwell residents Cecile Fazio and Gail (Slover) Arcari and Marlborough resident Jean Jordan — all members of the Middlesex County chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America Inc."The reason I joined [Blue Star] is because I needed to stay busy while my son was serving, and I just got so caught up in the group," said Fazio, who son, Angelo, is serving his second tour in Iraq with the Army.

More... Cromwell Residents Offer Thanks To Troops During Holiday Season -- Courant.com:

Drop off items for overseas troops at Fairfield Township fire headquarters

Drop off items for overseas troops at Fairfield Township fire headquarters - Butler County News at Cincinnati.com: "The Fairfield Township Fire Department is teaming with the Blue Star Mothers of America’s Oxford chapter to collect items for troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Items may be dropped off at fire headquarters, 6048 Morris Road, through Aug. 24. There will be a collection box in the entry foyer for items to be placed.

Suggest items are: drink mixes, cereal, granola bars, peanuts, Slim Jims, heat resistant candy – no chocolate, cough drops, dried fruits, new or used DVDs, thank you notes for the soldiers, writing paper, pens, stamps, books, magazines, game books."

The Newtown Bee

"Son or daughter?"

That is the way new members approach and greet each other, and that is how Kathleen Pritz greeted The Bee's reporter to the Blue Star Mothers Group meeting in Stony Hill on March 10. Mothers of servicemen and women gather once each month at the firehouse on Route 6 in Bethel and hold meetings to offer support to each other and the troops who are currently serving in the name of the United States Armed Forces."

The Northern Fairfield County Chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America made its
parade debut last month when it marched in Danbury’s St Patrick’s Day Parade.
Susanne Zencey of Newtown and Laurie McCollum of Sandy Hook are holding the
parade banner designed and constructed by fellow Blue Star mom Pam Tibbits. Each
son or daughter of a member is represented with a blue star on white banner and
a ribbon with their service branch indicated above the star and a second ribbon
with their name below the star. --Bee Photo, Hicks

The Newtown Bee:

Blue star group sends troops gifts of warmth - The Connecticut Post Online

"Blue Star Mothers and friends gathered recently for a blanket-making party for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The fleece blankets are warm and soft, and serve as a welcome covering on the cold nights soldiers are away."
Blue star group sends troops gifts of warmth - The Connecticut Post Online:

Bethel woman is founder of support organization for military mothers

"BETHEL--They've traveled to military bases across the country to see their children who are about to be deployed to trouble spots overseas, or to ships stationed in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere.
They wait anxiously for the text messages and e-mails their offspring send from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, and cry when they miss the phone calls home.
But for Danbury-area women with sons and daughters in uniform, there were few places to turn to discuss their deepest fears, or just to talk about the numberless issues that arise while their children serve their country thousands of miles away."

"Whatever you're worrying about or experiencing, somebody else has been
through it," said Pam Tibbits of Bethel, whose son Paul has been stationed north
of Baghdad since last July.

Bethel woman is founder of support organization for military mothers - NewsTimes.com:

Community news - Serving Middletown, CT

"CROMWELL — The Middlesex County Blue Star Mothers will meet Feb. 18. Meetings are open to any Connecticut mother who has a child serving and or who has served in the military and take place every third Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Cromwell Town Hall, 41 West St., Room 229. For information, e-mail info@middlesexcountybluestarmothers.org or visit www.middlesexcountybluestarmothers.org."

Community news - The Middletown Press : Serving Middletown, CT:

Branford Review - Young soldier sees lifetime of action

Branford Review - Young soldier sees lifetime of action: "His parents have had to stand his being in danger. The other women in Blue Star Mothers, the group for women whose children are serving, have sons who are cooks, not ones who are patrolling in Humvees, like Liz DeNardi's."

Blue Star Mothers need your help for the holidays

Stratford Bard - Blue Star Mothers need your help for the holidays:
"By: Tristram DeRoma, Editor
10/05/2007 Blue Star mothers and friends are busy these days collecting funds and gifts for the soldiers overseas. While most of us are just getting those first holiday season stirrings (Any sales on wrapping paper? Is our giant inflatable pumpkin in the attic or the basement?) the Blue Star Mothers of Stratford are already in full combat mode. They have to be, because in order for Stratford's hometown men and women fighting overseas to have an enjoyable Thanksgiving and happy holiday season when everyone else does, the mothers have to send stuff over soon."