Legion Commander Visits Gold Star Statue

NY State American Legion Commander Bill Kearsing (white hat) is moved when visiting the Putnam Gold Star Mothers statute at the county park in Kent last week with an entourage of local and state American Legion members. ERIC GROSS Last Thursday New York State American Legion Commander Bill Kearsing was stopped dead in his tracks as he viewed the Putnam County Gold Star Mothers statue. Kearsing, a resident of Albany, visited the Putnam Veterans Memorial Park with an entourage of local, regional, and statewide American Legion leaders. He explained that department commanders visit every county at least once a year, where “discussion focuses on American Legion affairs and concerns. Today is Putnam’s turn.”

The state commander said because of the Gold Star Mothers statue, “Putnam’s veterans stand out, since this sobering reminder is the only one of its kind in the U.S., depicting the moment of grief when a mother receives word that her son or daughter has been killed in battle.”

Kearsing told the PCN&R that he met with a Gold Star Mother a week ago: “She was a young Gold Star Mom—only 39 years old. I can’t imagine losing a son or daughter, but it’s happening every day. Your flesh and blood ships off and becomes a Marine, soldier, sailor, or airman, and winds up dead. I can’t fathom it.”

Kearsing commended the Putnam Gold Star Mothers Committee for “capturing the emotion with its poignant statue.” The statue is located in the Veterans Memorial Park in Kent. Cold Spring’s Doug Logan tells the COURIeR he designed the statue’s base and the surrounding plaza, though he has not been publicly acknowledged for his work.

Kearsing expressed hope that “all American guys and gals serving around the world as peacekeepers would return home safe and sound. Political persuasion doesn’t matter—Democrat, Republican, Conservative, or Liberal. We have reached a point in this country that we never achieved in Vietnam. We are supporting the warrior, and not why they are there.”

Kearsing noted that the Legion’s Heroes to Hometown program—through which members of the group assist family members whose loved ones have recently been deployed—was a great success nationwide.