On Fathers Day 'Think!' of the 'Gold Star Children'

And yes I do realize there are 'Gold Star Children' who have lost Mothers, especially in these two long conflicts, not minimizing the fact that many of the women soldiers killed were possibly Mothers as they all were Daughters, Sisters or Nieces and Aunts, the greater numbers killed still in war are male.

CBS sought out a message with meaning for Fathers Day, that aired June 17 2011, and I totally agree with the one they found which among many messages it should send ties our long war of choice, Vietnam where this Country said it would remember the lessons of, to both current wars of choice, Afghanistan and Iraq, lessons forgotten five minutes after Vietnam and so many DeJa-Vu's of then repeated with many enhanced and coming on faster.

The messages come in a newly released documentary that I hope to be able to catch the whole hour of very soon, from generation to generation we really don't change, but us of the older generation have now left huge problems for the now and coming generations to clean up, that's not supposed to be how it is, we are supposed to at least try and leave a better World for those following us.

This documentary had it's first showing recently:

Directed by Mitty Griffis Mirrer. Gold Star Children is an inspiring story told through the eyes of a young girl whose father was killed in Iraq and a child of the Vietnam War who grew up suffering parental loss in silence. A story of hope, the film explores the redemptive power of sharing and the resilience of our nation’s Gold Star Children, who continue to carry the greatest burden of war.

Cierra Becker's father was killed in Iraq four years ago. (CBS News)

June 17, 2011 - We all lose our fathers - one day - but for many, it happens far too soon. In this time of war CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports on a story of love, loss, and longing for Dad.

In war, any war, the only thing more tragic than the body count is the daddy count. In Vietnam, about 22,000 American kids lost their fathers. And of those casualties, one of the most heartbreaking stories belongs to now 41-year-old Mitty Mirrer of Rhode Island -- who lost her dad when she was just 16 hours old. Her mom was still recovering from the childbirth.

Mirrer said, "They actually came into the hospital, notified her, and then she screamed."

 

In the years following the funeral, however, Mitty says her mother hardly ever talked about her dad and didn't really want Mitty talking about him either - even though Mitty felt she needed to.

And that's why, a few years ago, this mother of two took it upon herself to dig into something much deeper than dirt.

It's an hour-long documentary, called Gold Star Children, she produced to give a voice to those kids who've lost a parent to war. A voice like they've never had and we've never heard. The names comes from a World War I tradition of putting a gold star in your window if you lost a son. {continued}

Gold Star Children from GI Film Festival on Vimeo.

For the Fathers and Mothers, or who might be in the coming years, who return, the Country needs to do much more then another DeJa-Vu of the previous decades and actually Sacrifice fully for this generation of Veterans and their needs, should have started with the drum beats of war a decade ago!

One of the many messages present even more today then back then, as bad as those times were for many of us returning, is the now over a decade of No Demand by this Country to Sacrifice, tax cuts extended which were passed as we sent soldiers into harms way again, as those we send and their families have especially once again in Department of Veterans Affairs funding, and these soldiers and families today have multiple tours in two theaters. That agency has been underfunded since the Korean conflict and especially as to many issues from our long Vietnam conflict, that has all cost more to the Country as the agency continues trying to catch up especially on record keeping and care, over these decades, then if funded directly at the beginning and throughout, as technology advanced, which would have saved and actually cut budgets.

Easier to lay blame directly at the huge agency, the VA, and already the House is trying to cut funds on some issues, especially by the representatives of the people as well as those people and even from some veterans than to Demand those same representatives do their jobs like they do for funding wars and the ever growing defense budgets and fully fund the results of these wars.