To kick-start Military Appreciation Month, the city of Rome, along with the State of Georgia, are recognizing today as Silver Star Day.
The mission of the Silver Star Families of America group is to remember, honor and assist wounded soldiers and veterans any way they can.
Floyd County’s Trish Benefield, Georgia’s representative to the group and secretary of the board for Silver Star, has been working with the organization for two years, but has been sending care packages and writing pen-pal letters to soldiers for several years.
“I just love being involved and helping out the veterans,” she said.
Benefield said that with programs like Silver Star, she feels like soldiers are getting the recognition that they should.
SSFA primarily recognizes soldiers by issuing thousands of Silver Star banners and certificates to the wounded or their families. The organization hopes the banners will help people remember the sacrifices made for the U.S.
Many of the members have wounded children or have been wounded themselves. “A lot of the soldiers are coming back with wounds. … There’s just so many of them,” she said.
“It touches my heart, because I feel like they need to be recognized, especially when these young guys and girls are having to go back so many times.”
Benefield is encouraging citizens to honor the war veterans and reach out to them.
“The wounded are going to need care for years to come,” she added. “It’s an ongoing thing, not just when they’re deployed.”
This is the second proclamation Gov. Sonny Perdue and Rome Mayor Wright Bagby has signed honoring Silver Star Day.
The organization is currently working with legislators in an attempt to get May 1 recognized nationally. Benefield has personally been in contact with legislators and governors throughout the United States.
To date, 44 states and more than 100 cities across the country and Germany are joining in to declare today as Silver Star Day to honor wounded soldiers.
For more information, visit Silver Star Families of America’s at www.silverstarfamilies.org, or contact Benefield at 706-232-1957.
If you don’t know what to do, here are a few suggestions that the Silver Star founder made to help recognize the wounded on this day:
Visit a V.A. home
Visit a military hospital
Drive with your lights on where permitted or
Have a moment of silence and remember U.S. soldiers.
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