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  • Kansas Reflector

    Enduring legacies: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly honors Gold Star families

    By Anna Kaminski,

    20 days ago
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2KSlxY_0vlujpUj00

    Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly gave remarks at the third annual Gold Star family ceremony on Sept. 26, 2024, honoring those with immediate family members who died while serving in the military. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)

    TOPEKA — A First Infantry Division brass band played while people laid gold roses before a memorial wreath on the south lawn of the Kansas Statehouse on Thursday to honor family members who died while serving their country.

    The third annual Gold Star families ceremony honored the more than 6,500 Kansas families that lost loved ones who died in combat.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2IbMCT_0vlujpUj00
    People placed roses at the foot of Kansas’ Gold Star family memorial monument at a ceremony on Sept. 26, 2024. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)

    “When a person joins the military, the entire family embarks on that journey with them,” said Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, whose father was a career Army officer who served in World War II and earned a Purple Heart after being injured in Korea. “They all recognize the inherent risks that come with the duty to protect our country and our liberty. None of them wants to become a member of the Gold Star family.”

    The designation has origins that date back to World War I, when families would fly banners with a blue star, indicating that an active-duty service member was part of their household. The blue star would be substituted for a gold one if the family member died while serving.

    The makeup of a Gold Star family has changed over time as service members are more frequently adults rather than young draftees, said George Pogge, a veteran who attended Thursday’s ceremony.

    “The military has become more of a family organization rather than an organization that you have to join after high school and then get out and come home,” he said.

    Instead of sons and daughters, the Gold Star families of modern times frequently honor husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and parents, said Pogge, of Jefferson County.

    He attended Wednesday’s ceremony to remember those he’s lost and to support the Gold Star families.

    Gary Jackson attended to remember his son-in-law, who was killed in Iraq, and friends who served alongside him in Vietnam.

    Marcia Cottrell, of Lyndon, attended in honor of her cousin, who died in Vietnam.

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2A17qd_0vlujpUj00
    Marcia Cottrell wore a vest filled with memorabilia to the third annual Gold Star family ceremony at the Kansas Statehouse on Sept. 26, 2024. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)

    In 2022, the Legislature took measures to approve the Gold Star family memorial monument that was at the center of Thursday’s ceremony on the southern grounds of the Statehouse.

    Looking forward to the 2025 legislative session, Kelly, who spoke at Thursday’s ceremony, said she supported expanding Medicaid, which she believes could directly benefit veterans and their families.

    “There are a number of our veterans and certainly families of our veterans, or of our deceased, who would be eligible, and that would make a tremendous difference in their lives and the lives of their children,” she told Kansas Reflector.

    Gold Star mother’s and family’s day has taken place on the last Sunday in September since 1936 . This year, it falls on Sept. 29.

    “Above all,” Kelly said, “Gold Star family’s day is an important reminder that the cost of freedom is enormous and enduring, even long after the battles to protect it have ended.”

    Comments / 13
    Add a Comment
    nae 1
    19d ago
    the absolute worst gov Ks has ever had..bar none
    Brad Jones
    19d ago
    She's got to go nasty woman
    View all comments
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