Grieving Gold Star Mother Statue
Carmel, New York
Gold Star Mothers -- the moms of soldiers killed in war -- have been around as an organization since 1918. Gold Star Mother memorials -- stones with attached plaques -- have been around since the 1930s.
Vietnam vet Fred Waterman felt that wasn't enough. He had one of his platoon buddies, Andrew Chernak, design a statue, and in 2006 it was unveiled. The life-size bronze shows a World War II mother in shock, a single tear on her cheek. One hand braces herself against an unsteady flower stand, the little flower pot overturned. The other hand clutches a crumpled telegram.
The statue proved to be so popular that a duplicate was placed in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Chernak hopes to erect four more copies in the Midwest, Southwest, West Coast, and Washington, DC.