Mothers of soldiers are a special breed. They are scared to lose their babies, but, at the same time, are proud that their children stood up for a cause. As I am not a parent, I cannot imagine the feeling of the loss of a child. Be it from crime, natural, or service. It is unfathomable to me. I have lost people that I love, that comes with life. But, when it is your own child, I know it has to be quite different.
Gold Star Mothers deserve the highest honor. They have sacrificed just as much, maybe more, than the soldier. The mother conceived, carried, gave birth, nurtured, and raised a fellow human being. A mother’s connection to their child is infinite.
I will leave you with this. It had to be one of the hardest letters that Abraham Lincoln had to write. I can only imagine what it was like for the mother to read. This letter was quoted in the 1998 Steven Spielberg film “Saving Private Ryan”. The names were not changed.
The letter reads:
Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.
Dear Madam,--
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A.Lincoln
Ref http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/bixby.htm
Love you, Mom