Mar 22 2019
John Fitzhugh | WLOX
BILOXI, MS (WLOX) - One Coast woman’s dedication to her father is leading to a Gold Star Memorial to be erected in Biloxi.
Diane Moore’s father, Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Moore has been listed as POW/MIA since Oct. 31, 1965, when he was captured in Vietnam. Moore was 11 at the time, and she is still waiting for her father’s remains to be returned.
Moore wants to see the monument built to help the community remember the sacrifice of all military families, especially those whose loved ones never returned from war.
“There’s a whole segment of the military out there that are the families of those who went to war and have died on active duty and that’s the Gold Star Families, and we’re forgotten,” Moore said.
The Biloxi City Council is expected to approve the donation of land and labor for the monument’s foundation near the Purple Heart Memorial at the Small Craft Harbor.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Gold Star Families Committee still needs to raise $65,000 to pay for the monument’s construction. You can learn more about their efforts on the group’s Facebook page.
The Gold Star first made an appearance during World War I after being placed over a service flag’s blue star when a service member was killed in combat. The Gold Star signified the family’s pride in the loved one’s sacrifice rather than the mourning of their personal loss.
