A Wagon Mound woman has been named the president of the national organization American Gold Star Mothers Inc.
Becky Christmas took over the post in June during the group’s annual convention in California.
“I’m very honored to be in this position,” Christmas said Tuesday.
American Gold Star Mothers Inc. provides support to veterans and for mothers and families of military members who have died as a result of service.
Christmas joined the organization after her oldest son, Army Capt. Todd Christmas, was killed in a helicopter crash along with six others at Fort Hood in Texas in 2004.
“For me, getting to know other Gold Star mothers who have experienced a similar tragedy, that has helped me so much,” she said. “In a way, we feel like we are able to continue their service in their memory.”
During her yearlong term as president under the theme of “Mothers on a Mission: A Positive Force,” Christmas said she will continue to focus on military suicide awareness, an initiative the group started last year.
“We have many, many applications from mothers who have lost children to suicide. We’ve seen more and more of those,” she said. “They have turned their grief, like all of us, into a positive mission of helping others.”
Christmas is busy organizing a September Walk-a-Thon that will take place in Washington, D.C. to raise awareness of the military suicide epidemic
American Gold Star Mothers Inc. was started in 1928 by Grace Darling Seibold, who lost her son in World War I.
Today, the organization has around 1,000 members, Christmas said.
