SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The lead member in the West Virginia Gold Star Mother organization is stepping down from the role.
After heading up the organization honoring their children who fought and died while serving in the Armed Forces, Shirley White said she is stepping down and moving out to Wyoming to be with her daughter and other family who lives out there.
White said she became involved with the group after the loss of her two sons in the military who passed away in 2005 and 2008.
“My oldest son was in Afghanistan securing elections, and my youngest son died of complications from PTSD,” White said.
A reception was held in White’s honor Saturday afternoon at Olive Tree in South Charleston following the Armed Forces Day Parade.
White said in 2012, she and a group of other mothers who also lost their children serving in the military banded together as a way to support one another, continue to honor their children, and to establish West Virginia Gold Star Mothers, which is an affiliate to the national organization.
“Our purpose is to give each support, strength, but also to serve,” she said.
The organization comes out to support a number of veterans and military events that take place across the state.
White said it’s about remembering their children for the bravery they have shown in fighting for this country.
“We are sanctioned by Congress as a service organization, so really what we do, we give back to our veterans,” White said.
The national affiliate group is known as American Gold Star Mothers.