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CNN Sunday Morning
Blue Star Banners Back on Display in America
Aired April 20, 2003 - 10:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Generations ago, you could walk down any tree-lined street and see which families had loved ones serving in uniform. Now, those star banners are back on display and in the front windows of American homes. CNN's Kathleen Koch has more on the time-honored tradition that's new again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A small banner crafted in World War I by a military father proud of his sons on the front lines. It caught on. Each star signifying a family member in the service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the war against Germany is won.
KOCH: After World War II, though, the tradition was all but forgotten. .
But the war in Iraq again has military families looking for a way to let the world know they have a son or daughter far away from home. So the blue star banners have been rediscovered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been here for 17 years, really never sold any until about six months ago, and now we have literally sold hundreds.
AL OLMER, NATL. CAPITAL FLAG COMPANY: Now, of course, everybody is proud of the military again, so, and rightly so, so they're back into favor, if you will. And we've been selling quite a few of them.
KOCH: Congress even passed a resolution urging Americans to display the banner.
REP. JOHN SHADEGG (R), ARIZONA: We think this is a proud tradition and that it's a great time for America to renew this tradition.
KOCH: The American Legion is running ads giving away or selling more than 100,000 banners so far this year to bolster the spirits of U.S. troops.
PHILIP FAZENBAKER, AMERICAN LEGION: And he sees all his friends and his relatives and they're all supporting him. It is just going to make it a whole lot better for them to do their job and do (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was just a couple of days before he died.
KOCH: Ann Sherman Walcott (ph) is relieved to see the support. She's vice president of the Service Organization of Gold Star Mothers. Blue stars are replaced by gold when a service member dies, as Ann's son Rex did in an ambush during the Vietnam War.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't want him to go in, not then, anyway, but he loved his country and he volunteered, and he went.
KOCH: Watching the public outpouring for the troops in this war, though, can be painful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I resent it, in a way because we didn't get the support, the boys that came back didn't get the support.
KOCH: Ann has one wish for those displaying today's blue star banners.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fly the blue stars and pray that they never have to be superimposed with the gold star.
KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 20, 2003 - 10:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Generations ago, you could walk down any tree-lined street and see which families had loved ones serving in uniform. Now, those star banners are back on display and in the front windows of American homes. CNN's Kathleen Koch has more on the time-honored tradition that's new again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A small banner crafted in World War I by a military father proud of his sons on the front lines. It caught on. Each star signifying a family member in the service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the war against Germany is won.
KOCH: After World War II, though, the tradition was all but forgotten. .
But the war in Iraq again has military families looking for a way to let the world know they have a son or daughter far away from home. So the blue star banners have been rediscovered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been here for 17 years, really never sold any until about six months ago, and now we have literally sold hundreds.
AL OLMER, NATL. CAPITAL FLAG COMPANY: Now, of course, everybody is proud of the military again, so, and rightly so, so they're back into favor, if you will. And we've been selling quite a few of them.
KOCH: Congress even passed a resolution urging Americans to display the banner.
REP. JOHN SHADEGG (R), ARIZONA: We think this is a proud tradition and that it's a great time for America to renew this tradition.
KOCH: The American Legion is running ads giving away or selling more than 100,000 banners so far this year to bolster the spirits of U.S. troops.
PHILIP FAZENBAKER, AMERICAN LEGION: And he sees all his friends and his relatives and they're all supporting him. It is just going to make it a whole lot better for them to do their job and do (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was just a couple of days before he died.
KOCH: Ann Sherman Walcott (ph) is relieved to see the support. She's vice president of the Service Organization of Gold Star Mothers. Blue stars are replaced by gold when a service member dies, as Ann's son Rex did in an ambush during the Vietnam War.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't want him to go in, not then, anyway, but he loved his country and he volunteered, and he went.
KOCH: Watching the public outpouring for the troops in this war, though, can be painful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I resent it, in a way because we didn't get the support, the boys that came back didn't get the support.
KOCH: Ann has one wish for those displaying today's blue star banners.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fly the blue stars and pray that they never have to be superimposed with the gold star.
KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
