{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-introduces-resolution-honor-gold-star-families-2", "Newhouse Introduces Resolution to Honor Gold Star Families", "2024-09-23", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) led 44 members in introducing the Gold Star Families Remembrance Week Resolution to honor the sacrifices made by families of U.S. military servicemembers who lost their lives in service to the nation. It designates September 22 - 28, 2024 as Gold Star Families Remembrance Week.\n\n\u201cOur service members and their families have made great sacrifices in service to their country, and it is important that they are not forgotten,\u201d said Rep. Newhouse.\n\nNewhouse continues, \u201cBy designating September 22-28 as Gold Star Families Remembrance Week, we recognize the extraordinary courage and resilience of our Gold Star Families and reflect on those we have lost. These families bear an unimaginable burden\u2014enduring the loss of their loved ones who gave their lives in service to our nation\u2014and we have a responsibility to ensure their memory is preserved.\u201d\n\nThe following are quotes of support from Gold Star Family members:\n\n\u201cI am very pleased that Congress is choosing to recognize Gold Star Families Remembrance Week. Every Memorial Day, we honor our warriors who gave their lives in defense of America. We should also honor the families of those fallen warriors, who stood behind them as they served, suffered the pain of their loss, then picked up the pieces and carried on. I'm a Gold Star son who lost my father in Vietnam. Life has taught me three truths. Grief fades. Love never dies. Courage shines on forever.\u201d \u2013 Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Hank Cramer, Washington, Gold Star Son of Captain Harry Griffith Cramer Jr. (U.S. Army Special Forces), who was Killed in Action in 1957 in Vietnam.\n\n\u201cI was just a year old when my father was declared Missing in Action in December 1945 in Germany. I have no memory of him but would like to honor his legacy by sharing his story with others who want to know the experiences of Gold Star families.\u201d \u2013 Karen Oberg, California, Gold Star Daughter of Pvt. Worrell F. Oberg (Army) who was Killed in Action on December 22, 1945, and whose remains have yet to be recovered.\n\n\u201cMy brother had just turned one and I was two and a half when our father was killed. As we got older, we often wondered what kind of man he was. In a letter to his sister just before he was killed, dad wrote that he had been wounded and had to build up his courage to go back in combat because he had seen so much death and destruction. From that letter, and in that moment, we knew our dad was a hero and we brought him off the shelf and back into life.\u201d \u2013 Walt Linne, Indiana, Gold Star Son of Sgt. Walter John Linne (Army) who was Killed in Action in Germersheim, Germany on March 24, 1945.\n\n\u201cIn 2022, when I visited South Korea and observed for myself the freedom, liberty, prosperity and gratitude of the South Korean people, I further realized that the supreme sacrifice by my father and its effect on our family was not in vain.\u201d \u2013 Robert James Johnston, Tennessee, Gold Star Son of Sgt. James Fred Johnston (Army) KIA/MIA, December 2, 1950, at the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.\n\n\u201cSince I was only two when my Dad went missing, I have no personal memories of him other than what my Mom told me often that to do my best as my Dad would expect or when I did something good, she would tell me how proud he would be of me. David, my brother, and I grew up loving the same things our Dad did, Boy Scouts, the outdoors, hunting, fishing and family.\u201d \u2013 Mike Logan, Tennessee, Gold Star Son of Maj. Samuel P. Logan, Jr. (USAF). He was the pilot of a B-29 shot down and taken captive while on a mission over North Korea on September 9, 1950. In 1954 he was declared Killed in Action. Maj. Logan was survived by his Gold Star Wife and two Gold Star Sons.\n\n\u201cBeing a Gold Star family member signifies profound sacrifice and loss as we bear the enduring grief of losing a loved one in service to the nation. Gold Star families' identities are shaped with both pride and sorrow.\u201d \u2013 Carol Brenneman Reed, California, Gold Star Daughter of Captain Austin E.E. Brenneman (USMC) who was Killed in Action on May 28, 1951, in Anak, North Korea.\n\n\u201cIn July 1951, the 2nd Inf Div deployed to Korea, leaving a pregnant, newlywed wife on a lifetime path of uncertainty, grief, loss, and life challenges. Ellen Marie Blissenbach handled her loss by joining the Gold Star Wives of America, becoming very active in supporting other families and veterans, as well as seeking information on my missing father, ultimately achieving some closure before her passing.\u201d \u2013 Maj. Paul K. Blissenbach US Army (Retired), Kentucky, Gold Star Son of SFC Joseph A. Blissenbach, who gave his life on November 30, 1950, in Kunu-ri, North Korea.\n\n\u201cLosing my father in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley during the Vietnam War was an indescribable blow, not only to my family but to the very fabric of my life. His absence left a profound void, a loss that reverberated through every milestone, forever shaping who I became. The sacrifice he made in such a fierce and historic battle deepens the sorrow, as his life was cut short defending a cause that took him far from home, never to return.\u201d \u2013 Army veteran Thomas Barrett, Ph. D., Maryland, Gold Star Son of SSGT Thomas J. Barrett, Jr. (Army), Killed in Action November 15, 1965, Vietnam.\n\n\u201cDuring Gold Star Families Remembrance Week, we honor the parents, spouses, siblings and children of those service members who lost their lives defending the United States and her allies. For nearly a century, \u2018The Long Gold Line\u2019 of these Gold Star Families has personified the resilience of the American spirit. Here on the home front, they endured the worst possible news delivered from a faraway war front. Yet they moved forward supporting each other and carrying on the legacies of their fallen heroes who, in the name of freedom, gave their last full measure of devotion.\u201d \u2013 Tony Cordero, California, Gold Star Son of Maj. William E. Cordero (USAF) who was killed on a bombing mission over North Vietnam on June 22, 1965. He is the founder of Sons and Daughters In Touch - America\u2019s Gold Star Children from the Vietnam War.\n\n\u201cOur son held a strong sense of honor and service and would have no regrets. We honor his valor and sacrifice every day. We gratefully support this resolution to honor and remember the sacrifices of all of our fallen and of the 7068 men and women Killed In Action in the Global War on Terror and the ongoing sacrifices of the families they left behind. It is this nation\u2019s responsibility to Never Forget, to honor their valor, and to always support the families left behind.\u201d \u2013 Barbara and Col. Mark Roland (USAF, Retired), Kentucky, Gold Star Mother and Father of Captain Matthew Roland, USAF, Killed In Action in Afghanistan on August 26, 2015.\n\n\u201cMy father flew 22 missions along the coastal waters of Vietnam to clear the area of enemy submarines before the US could bring in the 7th Fleet at the onset of the Vietnam War. His body was never recovered after his plane plunged into the South China Sea. My life and my family crumbled before my eyes and to this day I continue to live a life never knowing my father. Three months after the attack on the Twin Towers, my son joined the US Army, following his grandfather\u2019s footsteps as he was also willing to die for his country. Unfortunately, it ended horrifically when he was killed by an enemy IED while on patrol near the Hor Rijeb Canal in Iraq. There is no greater love than this: that a person would lay down his life for the sake of his country.\u201d \u2013 Elaine M. Roach, California, Gold Star Mother of PFC Joel Brattain, Killed in Action on March 13, 2004, and Gold Star Daughter of Lt. Harold S. Roach (Navy), lost in the South China Sea on October 2, 1964.\n\nThe following Members are co-sponsors of the legislation:\n\nReps. Andy Barr (R-KY), Mike Bost (R-IL), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), Mike Flood (R-NE), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Mark Green (R-TN), Michael Guest (R-MS), Young Kim (R-CA), Greg Lopez (R-CO), Julia Letlow (R-LA), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Greg Murphy (R-NC), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Zach Nunn (R-IA), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Greg Steube (R-FL), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Roger Williams (R-TX), Brandon Williams (R-NY), David Valadao (R-CA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Don Davis (D-NC), Josh Harder (D-CA), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), William Keating (D-MA), Joe Morelle (D-NY), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Wiley Nickel (D-NC), Scott Peters (D-CA), Deborah Ross (D-NC), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Juan Vargas (D-CA).\n\nClick here to read the full text of the bill.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-introduces-resolution-honor-gold-star-families-2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0209227912127972, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}