Saturday, June 2, 2012

Gold Star Wives' Memorial Day 2012 Photos

Memorial Day is a sacred national holiday, and all the more so for the members of the Potomac Chapter of Gold Star Wives as we remember the service and valor of our nation's fallen heroes.

Below are some of our chapter member's photos from the 2012 Memorial Day weekend.


Rolling Thunder celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary this year. Pictured above is Potomac Chapter Gold Star Wife Angie Gittles and friend Willie at one of the several staging areas for the famous motorcycle ride to our nation's capital.


At Emerald Isle, North Carolina, Potomac Chapter Secretary Susan Percy participated in a ceremony dedicating a new memorial in honor of America's veterans. Susan's participation in this event was covered in The Jacksonville Daily News and on TV station WITN.

Speaking of the service of her late husband, Lt. Cmdr. Bart Creed, Susan remarked "If we don’t remember the sacrifice, we’ll lose what they sacrificed for."




Pictured above is Memorial chairman Bernie Whalley, the lead organiser of the monument project, and Potomac Chapter Gold Star Wife Susan Percy. According to Whalley, "There's a lot of husbands and wives and sons and daughters and aunts and uncles that have given so much to this country, they've given us something that people yet unborn will one day appreciate."


  
Memorial Day is about honoring the lives of those who died in service of our nation. At Arlington National Cemetery, surviving spouses, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, all came to honor and cherish the memory of those who fought and died to ensure the survival of our nation.

Pictured above on Memorial Day is the final resting place of Army Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Fenty, husband of Potomac Chapter member Kristen Fenty and father of their daughter Lauren Fenty. Much of our chapter's recent legislative advocacy has centered upon securing the survivor benefits that Joseph and our other fallen heroes earned by virtue of their service to our nation. 

May we always remember the gravity of the sacrifice of all our fallen heroes, and choose to rededicate ourselves in continued support of their survivors.