Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day

Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day will be celebrated nationwide on Sunday, Sept. 25. The objective is to honor families of veterans who die during war. Bend is home to over 110 Gold Star families from WWI to the present. Their loved ones are honored at Bend Heroes Memorial in Brooks Park with their names engraved on the granite Peace Memorial. Gold Star families are honored with Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments created by sponsors and the Woody Williams Foundation in every state. Bend Heroes Foundation will be hosting the Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day ceremony at Bend Heroes Memorial with the unveiling of Gold Star and Blue Star By-Way Memorial Markers by Blue Star and Gold Star families. A briefing of the Woody Williams Gold Star Families Memorial Monument to be constructed at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland  will be presented by the President of the Oregon Gold Star Mothers Chapter. Officers of the Oregon Federation of Garden Clubs will discuss the history of Blue Star and Gold Star memorials as well as present wreaths. Proclamations issued by President Joe Biden, Oregon Governor Kate Brown, and Bend Mayor Gena Goodman-Campbell will be read. Flags of Bend’s young veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice during recent wars will be on display at the memorial. Families with sons and daughters serving in the Armed Forces are designated as Blue Star Families. Flags bearing the names of veterans will line Veterans Memorial Bridge on Newport Ave. adjacent to Bend Heroes Memorial.