SAN ANTONIO – On the corner of Veterans Memorial Park at Jefferson and East Martin Street will sit a reminder of the sacrifices made by military families across the Alamo City.
A new Gold Star Families Memorial Monument will represent the mothers, fathers, children, siblings, and spouses who never got to see their military service member return from conflict or war.
Candy Martin is a retired Chief Warrant Officer 5. She became a Gold Star mother in 2007, when her son 1st Lt. Thomas M. Martin was killed in Iraq.
For several years, Martin has been trying to get a monument that honors families like hers.
“We have World War II Gold Star children that live right here in San Antonio. They’ve gone their lifetime — they’re in their 80s, and they’ve gone a lifetime living with the fact that that their parent never came home from war,” Martin said. “And so now this monument is for those families. This monument and memorial is to remember that they grew up without a dad. They grew up without a sibling. And that’s what’s so important.”
Martin has been working with organizations to make this memorial possible. The monument was completed by the nonprofit Woody Williams Foundation, which has Gold Star Family monuments across every state and U.S. territory. There are about 13 in Texas.
“From the Veterans Administration, it’s estimated there are more Gold Star family members that live between Austin and San Antonio than any other geographical location in the United States,” Martin said.
She expects more than 200 people to attend the unveiling on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Plaza, 451 Jefferson St.