Careless talk could lead to great suffering for a Gold Star Family. Today, Trumps careless, thoughtless talk has caused great suffering not only to Gold Star Families but to all Americans. Vintage WWII poster Artist Wesley 1944

“It’s incomprehensible for us as a country to see those families, of all people, jerked around and lied to and slimed and called liars by the president very shortly after these service members died.” Rachel Maddow

Beware of careless talk!

During WWII civilians on the home front were constantly warned to beware of unguarded, careless talk. Central to national security was the “loose lips sink ships” campaign which carried with it the potential for the loss of life. No one wanted to be responsible for contributing to yet another Gold Star Mother and adding to her pain.

Today Donald Trump’s careless talk has caused great anguish not only to Gold Star Families those cherished Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice but to all Americans

Today, thin-skinned Donald Trump doesn’t know when to keep quiet.Vintage WWII poster

Gold Star Lies

This past week Donald Trump’s loose lips have created a firestorm of his own making, telling multiple despicable lies to and about Gold Star Families.

The week began with our Liar in Chief’s grandiose and false boasting that he has done more than all previous presidents when it came to compassionately consoling Gold Star Families. He outright lied on national television when he  claimed that unlike Obama he had called all military family members who had lost a loved one, causing deep pain to many Gold Star Mothers who have yet to receive a single condolence call from him,

Trump hit a new low a few days later when he next made a grieving widow cry.

That’s right…the alleged Consoler in Chief made a pregnant widow weep.

Myesha Johnson, the wife of a gallant Green Beret, Army Sgt. La David Johnson who was killed in Niger this month, cried from the President’s callousness during a delayed phone call ( saying her husband “knew what he was signing up for”)  and who did not have the decency to utter his name. Not once.

The phone call overheard by Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson said it was “horrible” and “insensitive.”

But thin-skinned Donald Trump doesn’t know when to keep quiet.

Trump lashed back retorting that the Congresswoman’s claim was fabricated and he had “proof.” Wilson firmly stood her ground saying unflinchingly:  “She (the widow) was in tears And she didn’t remember his name.”

The fallen hero’s aunt Cowanda Jones-Johnson, who raised him, confirmed the Congresswoman’s account telling the Washington Post “President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband.”

By publicly accusing the Congresswoman of concocting the story Trump is also dismissing the grieving family’s account, in essence saying they too are liars.

Who attacks a Gold Star Family?

Of course this is not the first time he’s picked a fight with a Gold Star Family

When an apology to a Gold Star Family would seem in order, Mr. Trump is uncharacteristically silent. Vintage WWII poster illustration Howard Scott

Last year, candidate Trump’s offensive and thoughtless remarks attacking the Khans, a patriotic Gold Star Family who have made the ultimate sacrifice, rightfully appalled decent Americans on both sides of the aisle.

Of one truth we can be certain -Our Liar in Chief lacks the basic empathy that is requires of a Commander in Chief.

One can only hope Donald’s own loose lips will sink his presidency.

Who Is a Gold Star Mother?

In this vintage ad from 1944 we can see the Sons of Service flag hanging in the dining room window, as Junior carves the Christmas turkey while dad is overseas. The flags were usually no larger than about one foot long. Hung vertically, a stick was sewn into the top heading of the flag and a piece of string attached to both ends of the stick to allow it to be suspended in front of a window.Vintage ad Carnation Milk WWII 1944

Gold Star Mothers was formed shortly after WWI to provide support for mothers who had lost sons or daughters during the war.

During WWI and WWII a Service Flag hanging in a family living room window was an all too common sight. A blue star in the center of the red bordered white field signified a family member in active duty in US military service.

If a family had multiple family members in the service of their country then additional blue stars were set into the white rectangle.

Little Blue Star in the Window Turns Gold

Careless talk could lead to great suffering and the ultimate sacrifice. In this vintage WWII poster by Artist Harry Anderson, the blue star on this grieving couples  flag would soon be covered with a gold star.

When WWI began claiming many lives a new flag developed. When a son or daughter was killed in action a gold star was sewn over the blue one.

The idea of the Gold Star was “that the honor and glory accorded the person for his supreme sacrifice in offering for his country, the last full measure of devotion and pride of the family in this sacrifice, rather than the sense of personal loss which would be represented by the mourning symbols.”

In May 1918 the Women’s Committee of National Defenses suggested to President Woodrow Wilson that those mothers who had lost a family member in the war should wear a black band on their upper-left arm, adorned with a gold star.  In a letter supporting this proposal, President Wilson referred to these women as “Gold Star Mothers.”

It was the beginning of a  new tradition of patriotic support for those who serve our Nation in uniform that continues today.

When an apology to a Gold Star Family  would seem in order, Mr. Trump is uncharacteristically silent.

 © Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.