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"It is an honor to join with the
Honorable Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn to pay tribute to the Gold
Star Mothers and express my sincere sympathy for the loss of their
loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of us
all," Dolgos said.
During the ceremony
at the historic Soldier Field Memorial Waterfall in Chicago, Dolgos,
Quinn and members of the American Legion presented 44 Gold Star
Mothers with the Gold Star Banner and Gold Star Button, a keepsake
to identify widows, parents and next of kin of members of the armed
forces of the United States who lost their lives.
Antoinette Olive,
stepmother of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Milton Lee
Olive III, was among the Gold Star Mothers. Milton L. Olive III
served in Vietnam and was posthumously awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honor by the Department of the Army in 1966. Thanks to
Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Assistant Director Rochelle
Crump, Mrs. Olive received the Gold Star Banner and Button after
almost four decades.
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this article]
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According to their website, the
membership of American Gold Star Mothers Inc. is composed of mothers
who lost a son or daughter in World War I, World War II, the Korean
War, the Vietnam War, Beirut, Grenada, Panama, the Persian Gulf,
Somalia, Bosnia, Saudi Arabia, all strategic areas or while in
service to our country.
The organization was founded
nationally shortly after World War I to achieve the ideals of
Americanism for which their children had so gallantly fought and
died.
"As a
Vietnam veteran myself and the director of the Illinois Department
of Veterans' Affairs, I am no stranger to the heroic and brave
contributions of those who have stood in defense of this nation.
They are the sons and daughters of the Gold Star Mothers. We will
never forget their selfless acts of bravery," Dolgos said.
[Illinois
Department of Veterans' Affairs
news release] |
