May 1, 2002
Blue Star Banners honor residents serving country
American Legion Auxiliary revives program started during World War I
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Dee and Terry Haidle proudly hung their Blue Star Banner in their window this weekend.
The couple received the banner last week from members of the American Legion Auxiliary at Bowen-Holliday Post 35 in honor of their daughter, Terra, who is a medical corpsman in the Naval Reserve. Terra, a 1991 graduate of Traverse City Senior High, joined the Navy nine years ago and is currently stationed at the Naval Reserve Center in Albuquerque, N.M.
"It feels good to have it, we've always been real proud of Terra's service," said Dee Haidle. "Just having a child in the military, you know they could get called up at any time. She volunteered to go to New York City right after September 11, but no planes were flying."
Recently revived, the Blue Star Banner is a nationwide program sponsored by the American Legion. It began during World War I as a way to recognize families who had members serving in the war and became increasingly popular during World War II. A second banner, the Gold Star Banner, was for families who had lost a member in combat.
While it was dormant for decades, the American Legion decided to bring back the Blue Star Banner to boost morale during the War on Terrorism.
The local American Legion purchased 20 Blue Star Banners and is looking for families with members active in the armed service. The banners are available for free, but a donation will help buy additional ones for more families.
"We want to recognize American's newest veterans by presenting banners to their families," said Jenny Reed, president of the local American Legion Auxiliary. "We're proud to think that people are raising their kids to think that serving is a desirable thing to do."
Chico and Mary Luna of Northport are eager to receive a Blue Star Banner in honor of their son, Darryl, who is serving in the Navy in the Persian Gulf.
"We want to hang it so everybody knows we have a youngster in the service," said Chico Luna, whose dad was stationed in Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. "We are real proud, we've been a Navy family for a long time."
Sandy Krause vividly recalls the Blue Star Banner from her younger days. A Ferndale native, she said that three of her brothers and one sister served in the military during World War II. Her sister was an Army nurse and she had two brothers in the Pacific and one in Europe. Krause's parents proudly displayed their Blue Star Banner with four stars in the window of their home.
"It was a matter of pride," she said. "If you saw the Blue Star Banner flying in the window, you knew they had children in harm's way."
Krause also recalls the support that members of the Blue Star Mothers extended to her family when her mother died when she was eight. As was common in those days, her mother was laid out in the parlor for family and friends to pay their respects. This mourning period was longer than usual as her father unsuccessfully tried to have his children serving overseas come home for the funeral.
"I remember the Blue Star Mothers to this day, one afternoon gathering on the lawn," Krause said. "They marched in en masse to see my mother, to pay their respects."
Deeply patriotic, Krause said her grandfather was in the Spanish-American war, her father in World War I, her husband in Korea and her son in the Gulf War. In addition, she had nephews wounded in Vietnam.
She believes the Blue Star Banners are especially important now.
"We as a community, I think we need to see how many are out there because it brings home to you how many boys and girls are over there," she added.
For more information on the Blue Star Banner program, contact Jenny Reed at 946-7226 or Sandy Krause at 947-9565.