September 25, 2020 - VFW Post 8904 honored all the Mothers and Spouses who have lost a child, husband, or wife in time of war during a Gold Star Mother's Day program at the Veterans Memorial on Friday, September 25th.
Post Quartermaster Larry Hume welcomed everyone and gave some background to Gold Star Mother's Day, "Dating back to World War I that ended on November 11, 1918, families would hang a banner with blue stars, one for each family member that was in service. And in the event that their loved one would die in service of their country, the blue star would then be covered with a gold one, and Sunday, September 27th is Gold Star Mother's Day. And we are here today to especially recognize two Shelby County mothers, one wife who gave their loved ones to the war on terror.
"Lois Harper, her son Larry Polley, Jr. was killed in Iraq January of 2004; Kevin Casey Roberts was killed in Afghanistan May 28 (2008), he's the husband of Donnice Roberts; and Cory Bertrand, the 18-year-old son of Charlotte Allen was killed-in-action in Afghanistan five months later in October of 2008."
Hume listed the number of Shelby County lives who died in service to their country for each war or conflict: Mexican American War - 14 people; Civil War - 24 people; Spanish American War - 1 person; World War I - 35 people; World War II - 126 people; Korean War - 8 people; Vietnam War - 12 people; and the War on Terror in Iraq - 1 person and Afghanistan - 2 people. He continued by saying, "One thing that all of these people have in common other than having given their life for their country, is they all had a mother."
In honor of all mothers and their families who lost a son or daughter in the service of their country, Auxiliary Chaplian Joy Hutto placed the memorial wreath on the veteran's memorial. Following the wreath placement, Gene Hutto played Taps in honor of those lost.
