American Gold Star Moms get it right

The Florida Masochist both blogged about this and was courteous enough to send me an email pointing this out. JournalNews reported The American Gold Star Mothers agreed yesterday to admit noncitizens into the group for mothers of fallen soldiers, ending a 76-year-old ban that caused an uproar when a woman from Yonkers was denied membership.

Members voted unanimously to change the bylaws, hoping to stem a controversy that generated internal division and outside animosity toward the group. "We will reach out to the two mothers of the American soldiers whose membership applications are pending due to the U.S. citizenship requirement that was in effect when they applied," said newly elected President Judith Young. "Mothers of United States service personnel who die while serving in the military will not be denied membership based on U.S. citizenship." The decision means women such as Ligaya Lagman of Yonkers and Carmen Palmer of Mount Vernon — who lost sons in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively, and have pursued membership — now can join.

This in followup to an earlier post where they denied membership to Ligaya Lagman, hose 27-year-old son, Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman, was killed last year in Afghanistan when his unit came under fire during a mission to drive out remnants of Taliban and al-Qaida forces, but her membership in American Gold Star Mothers was denied because -- though a permanent resident and a taxpayer -- she is not a U.S. citizen.