Gold Star Moms Drop Citizenship Requirement

Back in May, this journal criticized the American Gold Star Mothers for denying membership to legal residents of the US. The charter drafted in 1929 required members to be citizens of the US. However, in light of another requirement for membership, the loss of a son or daughter in the service of the nation, citizenship seemed a silly burden. The requirement has been removed, by a unanimous vote of the membership.

On March 17, 2004, Army Staff Sergeant Anthony Lagman’s unit came under small arms fire in the village of Dehrawood, Afghanistan. He was 26 and a long way from Yonkers, New York, when he became the 114th American fatality in Operation Enduring Freedom. At the same place and time, Brentwood, New York’s Sergeant Michael Esposito, Jr. of the same unit became the 115th such casualty. There was no difference in their sacrifice, and these two kids from New York died, striking back at the Taliban that unlike Saddam Hussein had attacked the Twin Towers.

There was a difference, though, in that Sergeant Esposito’s mom didn’t come from the Philippines as Mrs. Lagman did. When Mrs. Lagman’s membership application reached the Gold Star Mothers, she was rejected. When the executive board met to consider a rule change, they voted against letting Mrs. Lagman into their organization. Ann Herd, president of the American Gold Star Mothers, at the time was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying, “"That's what our organization says: You have to be an American citizen. We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

That was, of course, terribly wrong. But people do make mistakes, and one of the things about being a grown up is fixing one's mistakes. So, on Monday in Dallas, the ladies (and they proved themselves to be such by their decision) of the group voted unanimously to amend their constitution. "This change to our constitution was the right thing to do, but we had to make the change the right way," said Judith Young, who replaced Ms. Herd as president.

It could be that the press attention made a great many of the members uncomfortable, and perhaps the new president got elected because Ms. Herd wound up being rather unpopular. Sometimes, scrutiny is misplaced. Best merely to note here that a wrong has been righted, and one hopes that Mrs. Lagman finds some consolation in that.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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