Non-citizen mother of slain U.S. soldier rejected by Gold Star organizatio

[kskiska]

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Everyone agrees that Ligaya Lagman is a Gold Star mother, part of the long, mournful line of women whose sons or daughters were killed in combat for the U.S. armed services.

Her 27-year-old son, Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman, was killed last year in Afghanistan when his unit came under fire during a mission to drive out remnants of Taliban and al-Qaida forces.

But the largest organization of such mothers, the American Gold Star Mothers Inc., has rejected Lagman for membership because _ though a permanent resident and a taxpayer _ she is not a U.S. citizen.

"There's nothing we can do because that's what our organization says: You have to be an American citizen," national President Ann Herd said Thursday. "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

more…
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--goldstarmother0526may26,0,7336814.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[tyedyeto]

1. WTF??? Her son DIED as an American in our armed forces...

But yet she is being denied the right to grieve along with others who lost their children?

Insane.


edit for typo

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Do the GSM's think they're the DAR?

Unbelievable - and yet not totally unexpected in this age...:grr:

[Rose Siding]

3. The former presidents of the group were much more

compassionate and clear thinking, as shown by their statements.

"Every time the wind blows"? WHAT was she THINKING?

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saigon68]

28. Adios

[Solly Mack]

5. That's fucked up.

[Dem2theMax]

6. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!

:mad:

It's OK if the womans son dies for our country, but hell, we can't give her a gold star because she's not a citizen? "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

I've got news for Ann Herd. The wind is gonna start blowing her way and it isn't going to be a nice breeze.

Have at it DU'ers. Oh, guess where Ann is from? Texas. :puke:


The American Gold Star Mothers, Inc.
2128 Leroy Place NW - Washington, DC 20008
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail us at [e-mail]


http://www.goldstarmoms.com/

[satya]

14. Thanks, just fired off an email to them. n/t

[Bunny]

31. Me too.

:grr:

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GCP]

50. Here's mine

"There's nothing we can do because that's what our organization says: You have to be an American citizen," national President Ann Herd said Thursday. "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

I would think equating the death of someone's son in the service of this country hardly qualifies as a change in the wind. As the mother of two ex-Marines who were not citizens when they served, I am deeply offended by the xenophobia and high-mindedness exhibited by Ms Herd.

This is a public relations disaster for the GSM, and something should be done to correct it.

However, if I were Mrs. Lagman, I would tell your organization to shove it after this slap in the face.

My name.

[northzax]

57. exactly- rules are rules

but this is going to happen more and more, so maybe, just maybe, it's time to start thinking about changing them?

[Daphne08]

7. This is wrong!

Wrong!

[neuvocat]

8. That's some serious bullshit.

What the hell is next? Mothers who lost sons and daughters who are 35-45, mothers who are of a certain religious preference? What about those who happen to listen only to jazz vs. those who only listen to country?

[ThoughtCriminal]

9. The answer my friends

is "Blowing in the Wind"

Where have all the flowers gone?

[Gormy Cuss]

10. 'every time the wind blows'

What a pissant.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saigon68]

29. Looks like Tom Delay is posting here

[happyslug]

11. Error, on my part, here is the Web Site for Gold Star Mother,

This is the Unoffical web site:
http://www.goldstarmothers.us/

Offical Website:The Oldest and biggest Gold Star Moms Organization (Started in 1929):
http://www.goldstarmoms.com/

Their Convention is Next Month:
June 26 through June 29, 2005
Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts
14315 Midway Road
Addison/Dallas, Texas

[jayctravis]

13. Motherhood transcends nationality.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[oasis]

16. "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

:wtf:

Sounds like a freep-nazi is running the show.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BeHereNow]

18. OOPs, Bad BHN...

Okay, I'll change that post-
She is a heartless mother, IF she is even a mother.
I can't imagine her turning ANY mother away
for ANY reason!
SHAME on her.
SHAME
SHAME
SHAME!
BHN

[Bluebear]

19. I was going to pull the same quote.

What a horrible thing to say, equating a child's death to the wind blowing.

[DearAbby]

20. Mother may not be a Citizen, HER SON WAS!

This is an outrage!

[Straight Shooter]

21. Another shining example of "compassionate conservatism"?

I wonder how many times they've even been asked to "change the rules."

There should be only one rule: Your child dies in combat while a member of the Armed Forces, you are automatically a Gold Star Mother if you so request the recognition.

Why can't Ann Herd wrap her mind around that concept?

[fortyfeetunder]

22. Is she eligible for Conservative Idiots week?

If Ms Herd shows signs of being a conservative, she ranks up there in this week's idiots list, I mean the following week since it's Memorial Day weekend....

[K8-EEE]

23. Half The Freepers Are Blaming The Mom

For not having become a citizen and not "swearing allegiance to our flag." Compassionate Conservatism at its finest!

[saigon68]

30. I agree FREEDOM is on the March and so are CORPORATE PROFITS

[ninkasi]

24. Disgusting

First, I'd like to say that if a woman's son or daughter is killed fighting for the United States, she deserves to be a Gold Star mother. Is her grief any less because she is not a citizen? Does his death mean less than the death of a citizen's child?

As to the inane comment about not changing the rules every time the wind blows...I'd like to ask how many requests have been made, and the time frame they were made, to change the rules.

This is a perfect example of right wing thinking; cold, uncaring, and unfeeling. As far as I'm concerned, Ligaya Lagman is just as deserving of a gold star as any other grieving mother. It's not bad enough that mothers are hearing about their children's deaths; the Republican way is to show absolutely no respect for people they don't deem worthy of receiving this symbol.

If Ms Herd has lost a child in war, is her heart so shriveled and cold that there is no room in even a tiny corner of it to feel compassion for another woman going through the same grief? Compassionate Conservatives, indeed.

[thebigidea]

25. fuck them, then. And bring on the bad publicity.

its not like being part of this group is going to make her son come back.

[MADem]

26. I seem to recall that Post WW1, the Gold Star Mothers had a trip

...to Europe, Paris I think--via ship, of course, air was not the way to go in those days. Part of the purpose was to visit the graves of the fallen overseas. They called them Pilgrimages--they went on for several years, and then someone started bitching about the cost, so they were stopped.

They were SEGREGATED trips...the white mothers went in First Class, the black mothers in Cabin Class. They did not socialize at all, had different venues, different tours, etc. Funny thing, the effect of the trips for the black mothers was that they realized that the insane racism of America was not to be found in cosmopolitan Paris.

Seems like they haven't learned much in all these years.

[SKKY]

27. That's screwed, jacked, fucked, and messed up. All at once...

...We'll let you die for our country, but we really don't want to recognize your son's sacrifice? Are we forgetting what this country was founded on? I try to be optimistic folks, I really do. I try to look at things in a positive light, but it's crap like this that keeps shitting on my rose-tinted glasses.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tanyev]

34. Yet our military is very happy to allow non-citizens to

join and die for this country. Hmmmm.

[Pacifist Patriot]

35. Can't go changing the rules?

Why the hell not?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

36. Slain Soldier's Mom Rejected by Gold Star ............xenophobia!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050527/ap_on_re_us/gold_star_mother/nc:716;_ylt=Ai7URxR.M8kL5f7PUkWDu_134T0D;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl




WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Everyone agrees that Ligaya Lagman is a Gold Star mother, part of the long line of mournful women whose sons or daughters gave their lives for their country. Her 27-year-old son, Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman, was killed last year in Afghanistan, but American Gold Star Mothers Inc., has rejected Lagman, a Filipino, for membership because — though a permanent resident and a taxpayer — she is not a U.S. citizen.

"There's nothing we can do because that's what our organization says: You have to be an American citizen," national President Ann Herd said Thursday. "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

That explanation isn't satisfying the war veterans who sponsored Lagman's application, some other members of the mothers' group or several members of Congress.

"It is disheartening that any mother of a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who has died in the line of duty would be denied membership in an organization that honors the memory of fallen service men and women," said Rep. Nita Lowey (news, bio, voting record), whose district includes Lagman's home in Yonkers.

Rep. Eliot Engel (news, bio, voting record), who represents an adjoining district, said the group should change its rules immediately.

"Whatever the excuse, American Gold Star Mothers' decision smacks of xenophobia and is in stark contrast to what Mrs. Lagman's son fought and died for," Engel said.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "We now have many noncitizens serving honorably in our armed services, and I hope that this can be satisfactorily resolved."


<snip>

"We decided to tell the absolute truth on the application," he said. "We put down, `I am not an American citizen.' It was a ploy to get them to reject her, and then we said they should change the rules."

But the organization's 12-member executive board voted against any change.

"We can't go changing the rules every time we turn around," said Herd, the national president. "When we have problems within our organization with people not abiding by the rules, we just get it straightened out, we don't change the rules."



more...

[Dogmudgeon]

37. Time to send our words of disappointment to GSM

The road to Hell is paved with "Abiding by the Rules."

As Jesus once famously said, "Man is not made for the Law, but rather, the Law is made for Man".

But whaddaya expect out of a long haired libbrul Jewish slacker? :sarcasm:

--p!

[JNelson6563]

38. I'm sure there is a process

to amend what they have in the way of a charter or by-laws. The fact this isn't listed as a option is telling.

Julie

[LostinVA]

45. One article I read said the 12-member board voted it down

They can approve something for a member referendum. Hey, can't change something every time the wind blows! I cannot believe that woman said that to the mother of a dead child. B-word.

However, two ex-presidents of the GSMs think it should be changed ASAP.

[TreasonousBastard]

39. That's disgusting...

change the damn rules! Who the hell are these people to say only SOME mothers can honor and mourn their sons and daughters this way?

This is for the mothers of fallen soldiers fighting under the US flag, not the DAR.

We have ALWAYS had non-citizens serving, and the good WASP women of the Gold Stars might be reminded of the last few times we screwed the Filipinos we talked into fighting for us.

They might also be reminded that non-citizens are eligible for the draft, and many were forced to fight and die when we had one.

War is disgusting enough without these hags adding insult to it.

[jhain]

40. This sickens me

I would not have thought it possible to add to this woman's pain and grief.

For this group- who should KNOW the pain intimately- to do done so is disgusting.

How could we determine if any of the 12 members are actually Gold Star Mothers??

[The White Tree]

41. Talk about a calous statement.

national President Ann Herd said Thursday. "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

You would think a soldier dying wouldn't be characterized that way.

That's just cold.

[rodeodance]

42. change the stupid rules for god's sake!!!

[etherealtruth]

44. You took the words out of my mouth ...

... (or off my keyboard).
"We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows." horrified me.

[Career Prole]

43. Xenophobia or jingoism?

I find this woman's attitude disgusting and I think they should poll the entire membership about changing that rule.

Seems to me they'd only need one condition to meet for membership, and accepting this mother should be a no-brainer.

That said, I'd blame jingoism before xenophobia.

It takes a nationalistic nut to see her kid die in a faraway land fighting to make rich men richer and not be enraged about it, not a xenophobic.

I wonder how many of these "Gold Star Mothers" also belong to Mothers Against War.

I wonder if the executive board of "Gold Star Mothers" would frown on concurrent membership in Mothers Against War.

[wildeyed]

46. Her son fought and died in the service of our country.

Doesn't get more American than that.

A past president of the mothers' group, Dorothy Oxendine, of Farmingdale, said, "There's no discrimination in a national cemetery. There's no discrimination when they get killed side by side. So how can we discriminate against a mother?"

[Debau2005]

47. Email the Gold Star Motherns

The email address of the Gold Star Mothers is [e-mail]. Following is the email I have just sent to that email address. I am sure that they are way to high and mighty to care about my opinions, but if we all let them know of our horror, perhaps a small bit of compassion will try to sink in! I am absolutely sick and stunned by this...

"As the fiancee of a deployed soldier I am horrified by your rejection of this mother. How dare you pick and chose the mothers of dead soldiers that you allow membership. It is obvious that a lot of our dead are not US Citizens, as they have been lead to believe that they will get citizenship if they volunteer to serve.

I really don't know what to say other then I am deeply hurt and absolutely speechless by your calous attitude to this Mother's suffering. Her grief is no different then any other mother. And now you have rejected her and the sacrifice of her son.

Your president needs to think before she speaks. Her attitude about this is truly unbelievable. I am sure the founders of your organization would be truly disappointed by your lack of care and concern for those different then you."

:grr:

[halobeam]

48. emailed.

you know, I forgot to add something to it, so I sent two emails actually. This is disgusting. TOTALLY disgusting. She should be thrown out of her "position".

[coffeenap]

49. emailed too--asked "what if it was you?" nt

[lonestarnot]

58. They didn't have a problem enlisting and killing him though did they?

[proud2BlibKansan]

51. Slain soldier's mom rejected by Gold Star

by JIM FITZGERALD

Associated Press


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Everyone agrees that Ligaya Lagman is a Gold Star mother, part of the long line of mournful women whose sons or daughters gave their lives for their country. Her 27-year-old son, Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman, was killed last year in Afghanistan, but American Gold Star Mothers Inc., has rejected Lagman, a Filipino, for membership because - though a permanent resident and a taxpayer - she is not a U.S. citizen.

"There's nothing we can do because that's what our organization says: You have to be an American citizen," national President Ann Herd said Thursday. "We can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

That explanation isn't satisfying the war veterans who sponsored Lagman's application, some other members of the mothers' group or several members of Congress.

"It is disheartening that any mother of a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine who has died in the line of duty would be denied membership in an organization that honors the memory of fallen service men and women," said Rep. Nita Lowey, whose district includes Lagman's home in Yonkers.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/11751846.htm

[BamaLefty]

52. Support the troops?

WE are the only ones that truly support our troops. This is sad.

[northzax]

53. if those are the rules, then those are the rules

but given the number of immigrants fighting in Iraq, it might be a good time to change them, you think?

[trotsky]

54. "every time the wind blows"?!?!

What a fuckwad.

[MADem]

55. There is another thread on this here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1503876

[chelsea0011]

56. "everytime the wind blows".? Now that's respect for a dead soldier.

He gave his life.

[MADem]

59. I let them have it with both barrels

I am appalled at your treatment of the woman whose son was killed preserving and protecting our nation, but is denied entry into your little club solely because she is not a US citizen. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Get off your butts, change your bylaws, and fix that situation. And do it sooner, rather than later.

More and more Green Card soldiers are serving in our military. You need to understand that as a percentage of the total, they are taking it on the chin as much, if not more, than the average young American. I find your xenophobia disgusting and racist, frankly.

Get with the program, and get your foolish little rule changed. As a retired servicemember, I find your actions abhorrent, disgraceful and shameful.

[Az_lefty]

60. Perfect...