Ruth Bouchard’s mother was a lifetime member of both the Caribou VFW and American Legion organizations. Most residents can easily recall seeing her participating in the annual Memorial Day Parade and the ceremony which followed, placing wreaths at Monument Park, honoring deceased military members.
“For the entire year, following the death of my step-brother, Dana Mace,” said Ruth Ruth Bouchard, “my mother only wore clothes that were red, white and blue. She didn’t wear the same ones over and over again, but everything she bought and wore were those colors only.”
“I drove the Gold Star Mothers and Sisters in the Memorial Day Parade for many years,” stated Bouchard, and we still have a few active members who call to remind me.” Edwina Daigle is the only gold star mother left, after my mother passed away in 2007,” said Bouchard, “and Jackie Daigle Shaw, Gilda Daigle LaChance, Marion Turner, Phyllis Brown and Irish McDonald are the Gold Star Sisters who remain active in the program, and of course myself.”
The following is a reprint of a document, ‘Gold Star Mothers Keep Memories Alive,’ which Gladys Ruth kept among her personal belongings.
“Gold Star signify excellence. Gold stars also connote loss, sacrifice and mourning. To the legion of mothers who raised sons and daughters to adulthood and saw them off to war, but did not have the joy of seeing them return — a Gold Star is their legacy.
“In the early days of World War I, service flags dotted with blue stars hung in homes, churches, schools, and businesses signifying the number of family or organization members serving in the Armed Forces. As the war progressed and men were killed in Combat, a Gold Star was superimposed on the blue star as a memorial symbol of honor.
“Throughout the United States, women who lost children in the war banded together in small support groups. But it was not until 1928 that 25 bereaved mothers, residing in the District of Columbia, met to organize American Gold Star Mothers, a national organization.
The name ‘Gold Star Mother,’ was coined in 1918 when Pres. Woodrow Wilson approved the suggestion that American women should wear on the left arm, a black band with a gilt star for each member of the family killed in the war. Wilson felt that the conventional black garb of mourning was psychologically harmful.
In 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt issued a proclamation designating the last Sunday in September, Gold Star Mothers Day. On this day the organization’s national president places a Gold Star wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery and individual chapters hold memorial services throughout the county.”
