Holly S. Fenelon - That Knock at the Door: The History of Gold Star Mothers in America

THAT KNOCK AT THE DOOR: The History of Gold Star Mothers in America

Copyright 2012 by Holly S. Fenelon.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-2537-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-2538-8 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012908752

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 05/29/2012

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To be killed in a war is not the worst that can happen.

To be lost is not the worst.

To be forgotten is the worst.

Pierre Claeyssens

CONTENTS

The World War and the Gold Star

The Post-War Period: Shaping the Memory of the War

Creating the American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.

The Gold Star Mothers of the Great War

The Gold Star Pilgrimage

The 1930sRemembrance, Respect, and Recognition

The 1940sGrowth, Recognition, and Discord

The 1950sDissension and Challenges

The Memorial National Home Foundation

The Vietnam Decades, 19601979

AGSM Challenged, 19801999

2000 and BeyondNew Wars and an Evolving Organization

Presidents and Conventions

National Presidents

Gold Star Poetry and Clippings

Gold Star Mothers Stamp Cachets

That Knock at the Door

Dozens of gold star mothers across the nation shared their stories and memories with me as I researched this book. During those interviews, I heard one phrase so often that I began to anticipate hearing it from each mother with whom I spoke. That phrase was until I got that knock at the door.

It was not the knock of a military attach bringing news of a loved ones death that these mothers remembered so clearly. Instead, it was a gold star mothers knock at the door, a member of American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., and most often a stranger, who came to offer support and understanding to a family experiencing what hers had already known. The mothers recollections often sounded like this:

I didnt even know what gold star mothers were until I got that knock at the door. She came in and spoke with us. She understood what we were going through. I cried on her shoulder for hours, but we laughed together too after those first few horrible days were over. I dont know how I would have made it without her. She is my dearest friend now.

Variations on this theme were repeated time and time again in the interviews. That knock at the door is symbolic of all the doors that the members of American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., have knocked upon over the years as they devoted themselves to service in the memory of those they lost. They have knocked at the doors of other gold star mothers; of veterans in need and their families; of Congress and the White House; of veterans hospitals and care facilities; and at the door of American history. In each of these places, they entered and made a difference.

Holly S. Fenelon, 2012

Dedicated to

Americas Gold Star Mothers
They gave that which was
most dear to them
to keep our nation free.
and
Rear Admiral
John J. Higginson, U.S.N. (Ret.)
(October 24, 1932January 12, 2010)
A patriot and an
ever-faithful friend
to
American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.

Fig. 1-1. A postcard designed for soldiers to send
to their loved ones reminded the recipient of the reasons young Americans were serving in the
Great War. (Fenelon Collection)

The World War and the Gold Star

Adopt as the national symbol of mourning
a small gold star of a certain size. What could
be more appropriate or expressive than a Gold Star, representing as it would earths most
precious treasure?

ALLEN NICHOLSON

Few Americans recognized what the effect might be on the United States as Europe went to war in 1914. As the editor of a book called Fulton County in the World War recalled in 1920, the seemingly distant events in Sarajevo in June 1914 ultimately impacted every aspect of American life:

That the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was an event which would vitally affect the daily life of every citizen of Fulton County [Indiana] would have seemed preposterous had such a prediction been made when the news was flashed around the world on that memorable day.

That the fanatical youth who slew the royal pair should involve the whole world in war and bring death to over five million men; that his act should have to do with the peace and prosperity of Fulton County; that it should take the best of our young men from the fields, the stores, the factories, and send them beyond the seas to fight and die, if need be; that it should have to do with the food we ate, the clothes we wore, the money we spent or saved; that it should mobilize the thought and energy of practically every mind in Fulton County and bring us to stand united in a single purpose, was wholly unbelievable when the newspapers carried the story of his crime.

President Woodrow Wilson immediately declared a policy of American neutrality regarding the war in Europe. Many young Americans, however, rushed to join the fight. Privileged young men who had studied and traveled abroad joined the Allies, eager to help preserve the cultures they knew so well. Other well-to-do young Americans joined assistance groups such as the Ambulance Corps and Red Cross, where their experience in driving automobiles, not yet commonplace in the nation, was of significant value. Many German immigrants and sons of German immigrant families chose to return and support their fatherland in the war.

Some believed that America could not maintain neutrality for long and would eventually be forced to enter the war. In April 1917, they were proven right when President Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war.

The Service Flag: A New Symbol of Support
for the Military

In 1917, R. L. Queissner of Cleveland, Ohio, wanted to publicly acknowledge the pride he felt for his family members serving in the United States armed forces. A veteran himselfretired captain of a machine gun company of the 5th Ohio InfantryMr. Queissner designed and patented what he called a service flag.