BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Gold Star Mother: It’s Memorial Day 365 days a year for us

  • Mona Gunn's message: Remember the risks of service members take for us
  • Her son died while in the Navy during an attack on the USS Cole
  • Gunn led a group dedicated to mother's who lost children in the service

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

(NewsNation) — For Mona Gunn, every day is Memorial Day.

“We have families who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. And we never want people to forget that there are servicemen and women who lay down their lives and shed blood so that we can have our freedoms,” Gunn said on “NewsNation Now” on Monday.

Gunn was the first Black president of the American Gold Star Mothers, a nonprofit organization of American mothers who have lost their children in service of the United States Armed Forces.

Her son, Navy Signalman Seaman Cherone Louis Gunn, died on Oct. 12, 2000. He was one of 17 sailors who died during the terrorist attack on the USS Cole.

“Only 1% of the U.S. population choose to go into the military,” she said. “And even though we have Gold Star families, and even though those young people who choose to join know that there’s a possibility that they may not come home, they still choose to join the military. So appreciate those who are on active duty as well.”

Mothers of active duty service members can join Blue Star Mothers of America, but if their child dies while in active duty, a gold star is super-imposed on it, Gunn explained.

“We celebrate Memorial Day every day. Three hundred sixty-five days of the year, it’s Memorial Day for Gold Star families,” Gunn said.

Holidays

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

66°F Sunny Feels like 66°
Wind
4 mph SSW
Humidity
33%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
52°F Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
4 mph S
Precip
16%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waxing Gibbous