The title “gold star mother” was used unofficially to describe a woman who had lost a child in service until the national organization, American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., was established in 1929.
Jerry Summers: The UDC And The Gold Star Mothers Saturday, January 30, 2021 - by Jerry Summers
Jerry Summers
The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and Gold Star Mothers (GSM) are two women’s groups that were formed to honor deceased husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers who were killed in armed conflicts. The UDC honored those in the Civil War fighting for the South beginning in September 1894 and the Gold Star Mothers was formed to uphold the memory of all American military inductees slain in World War II and subsequent conflicts.
Though both began with commendable goals of honoring the bravery and supreme sacrifice of the fallen warriors, today they are looked at from diverse viewpoints for the current political climate.