American Gold Star Mothers Memorial is a monument in downtown Yonkers, NY, dedicated to the Gold Star Mothers. They are the mothers who lost a son or a daughter during their military service in the US Armed Forces. The initiator for the Gold Star Mothers organization was Grace Darling Seibold, who lost her son in WW1. Seibold gathered a group of mothers who lost a child during the war, for mutual support and to assist hospitalized veterans. They named their group after the Gold Star that families hang on their window honoring the deceased veteran. The national organization was officially founded in 1928 and was chartered by the US Congress.

At the center of the memorial is a statue of a woman sitting on a chair. She is cradling the folded American flag that covered her child’s coffin in her hands, the same way she held her child as a baby. She is gazing at the sky, feeling “the mixture of pride and grief.” On her background are the American flag and the Gold Star Mothers’ flag. To her left, on a black granite stone, a sign reads:

“GOLD STAR MOTHERS
“They also serve who only stand and wait”
John Milton.”

Under the text are the symbols of six armed forces of the Department of Defense. To her right, an image from a funeral is presented on a black granite stone.

The sculpture was created by the New Windsor artist Richard Masloski and was unveiled on October 15th, 2006, in downtown Yonkers, in front of the train station, where many mothers saw their child taking to the battle and never coming back.

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II