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Silver Star Families of America (U.S.)

image located by Esteban Rivera, 3 January 2018

Description

See also:

Flag Description

"The Silver Star Families of America, SSFOA was established in 2004 and received 501 c 3 status on December 5th 2005. It is a tax exempt organization dedicated to honoring and supporting wounded, ill and injured veterans of all branches of the armed forces of the United States of America. The organization was founded in 2004 by Steve and Diana Newton with the assistance of Joseph and Sharon Newton and the entire Newton family. Its purpose is an attempt to encourage the U.S. Congress to make the Silver Star Service Banner official for those wounded or injured in a war zone. Forty-nine states, Guam, Saipan, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Chickasaw Nation and over 2,700 cities and counties have issued proclamations in support of the Silver Star Banner and of Silver Star Service Banner Day on May 1 of every year.

On April 21, 2010, the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution 855, a stand-alone resolution recognizing the Silver Star Service Banner and making May 1 Silver Star Service Banner Day. One state, Missouri, took steps to make such recognition a state law.

Qualifications:
The Silver Star Families of America define wounded and ill as:

"Definition of war zone determined by the Department of Defense"
Any Armed Forces personnel either currently serving honorably or those who have served honorably from any war, who having served in a war zone has been wounded by enemy action or who have been injured or contracted a serious illness that could be rated at least 10% disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs. All wounds, injuries or illness must have originated in a war zone. Purple Heart recipients, victims of friendly fire, kids injured in a war zone, those who suffer from PTSD, Agent Orange effects and Gulf War syndrome. The individual eligible to receive the Silver Star Banner would not have to be eligible for the Purple Heart or any other military decoration in order to receive a Silver Star Banner.

The Silver Star Service Banner may be displayed during peace or war time. The Silver Star Service Flag may be flown by anyone in remembrance of our wounded, ill and dying during peace or war time.

SSFOA recognizes all wounds. SSFOA defines wounded as Military personnel either currently serving honorably or those who have honorably served in the past who receive medical treatment or are diagnosed with an impairment which has altered or will alter that person physically or mentally, to include but not limited to WIA, non-hostile injuries during deployment, or PTSD. The individual eligible to receive the Silver Star Service Banner would not have to be eligible for the Purple Heart or any other military decoration in order to receive a Silver Star Banner. We want to make sure every wounded Armed Forces member, or their families, have a Silver Star Service Flag or Banner.

Founders and members considered a “purple” star, “red” star, and even a “white” star. Purple of course, came from the Purple Heart. Red would have signified the blood shed and white would have been for the healing of the wounded or illness.

The use of Silver for wounded started in 1917 and was adopted for use in several states. After many years the Silver Star fell into disuse. In 1918 the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defenses suggested that mothers who had lost a child in the war wear a gold star on their mourning armband. This led to the tradition of covering the blue star on service flags either with gold, if a service member was killed, or silver if he was wounded. Its main office is located in Clever, Missouri."

Sources: http://www.silverstarfamilies.org/SSFOA-History.html,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_flag and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Star_Families_of_America

Here's an actual banner
- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Silver_Star_Banner2.jpg
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silver_Star_Families_of_America)

And here we can find the JPG format banner:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/The_Silver_Star_Service_Banner.png. Notice that this item was uploaded by Steve Newton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Steven1969), member of SSFOA.

And here's a waving service banner, below the U.S. flag:
http://www.silverstarfamilies.org/US_and_Silver_Star_Flag.JPG (source: http://www.silverstarfamilies.org/SSFOA-History.html)
For additional information go to Silver Star Families (official website): http://www.silverstarfamilies.org/
Esteban Rivera, 3 January 2018