​Hi!
I'm Denise Torbert your 2024-2025 National Flag Guard for the American Gold Star Mothers NEB. I'm from Lancaster,  Pa.  (No, I'm not Amish) I joined AGSM to have a connection to other mothers who have lost a child that was serving in the military.  My son USMC CPL. Eric M. Torbert Jr., or as I call him, "Jr".  He joined the Marines when he was 22 . Back then I did not know about Blue Star or Gold Star Mothers. I became a Gold Star Mother December 18, 2010, when Jr. was KIA while sweeping for bombs in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on night pratol. Jr. was a 1st CEB Engineer battalion helping the 5th Marines that night.
There is a "Combat Outpost Torbert" named for Jr. that was then turned over to the Afghan natives after the Marines left.  They kept the name to honor Jr. and all others who had lost their lives protecting their people. There is also a bridge that crosses over the Conestoga River on Rt 741 outside of Millersville, PA.
Jr. was the oldest of my 3 children. I have a daughter Lynn, who gave me two grandsons (Waylon and Huck) and a son Dennis who joined the Maines in 2019 at the age of 23 to honor his brother.
Family is verry important to me and I consider AGSM as my family. I am looking forward to serving you this year. 
 

​A Korean War Veterans' Tale of Courage and Candy
 
"During November 1950 the First Marine Division with elements of two Regimental combat teams of the U.S. Army, a Detachment of British Commandos and some South Korean Policemen -- about 15,000 men -- faced the Chinese Communist Army's ten Divisions totaling 120,000 men. At a mountain reservoir called Chang Jin (we called it "Chosin") temperatures ranged from minus five degrees below zero in the day to minus twenty-five degrees below zero at night. The ground froze so hard that bulldozers could not dig implacements for our Artillery. The cold impeded our weapons from firing automatically, slowing down the recoil of our artillery and automatic weapons. The cold numbed our minds, froze our fingers and toes and froze our rations. [We were] seventy-eight miles from the sea, surrounded, supplies cut, facing an enemy whose sole objective was the annihilation of the First Marine Division as a warning to other United Nations troops, and written off as lost by the high command.

"A war correspondent asked if we were going to retreat. The Commanding General, First Marine Division General Oliver Prince Smith, replied 'Retreat? Hell, we are attacking in another direction.'

"Col. Murray said 'We are coming out with our dead, our wounded and our equipment, we are coming out as Marines or we are not coming out at all.'

"We put our seriously wounded in sleeping bags and secured our dead to the fenders and hoods of the trucks.  Those we had no space for, we buried. Every Marine became a rifleman. Unable to build a fire to heat our rations, the men were close to starvation. Destroying non-essential equipment, we discovered boxes and boxes of Tootsie Rolls, frozen solid from the sub-zero temperature. The Tootsie Rolls were issued to all the men. The sugar gave us energy and the candy satisfied our hunger.

After two weeks of bitter fighting we finally reached the sea with most of our dead, our wounded, our equipment and one very important extra: 100,000 North Korean Civilians voting for freedom with their feet following us out. Some of them live in the United States today. The 15,000 Soldiers and Marines suffered over 12,000 casualties, 3,000 killed, 6,000 wounded and thousands of frost bite cases.

"Ask any man that served at the Chosin, to be good a Tootsie Roll must be frozen!"
(Shared from Tootsie.com) 

My daughter-in-law is a teacher.  For years, I’ve heard her talk about the “100 Days of School” celebration.  It's a time to reflect on what students have learned so far and how much they have grown, and it's a day to celebrate all of the hard work everyone has put in. Today marks the 100th day since the 2024-2025 National Executive Board was installed in Colorado Springs!!!!!!  I think it is absolutely appropriate to celebrate the 2024-2025 NEB.  I want you to know how hard the Board is working this year!  I am so incredibly proud of the ladies I have the honor to work with this year.  We have just finished our biggest event of the year, the Gold Star Mother’s Weekend Commemoration.  This is a huge event the new NEB has to execute in less than 90 days after taking office.  While there were some things we couldn’t control (the weather!), these ladies handled the curve balls with incredible grace.  This year’s events were some of the most rewarding and memorable experiences I have had during the years I’ve been on the NEB.  So this is my THANK YOU to the incredible team working for American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., this year:  Annette Kirk, Joyce Paulsen, Teresa Bullock, Nichole Chilton, Theresa Karlson, Rose Duval, Pam Stemple, Sherrie McGhee, Joan Snyder and Denise Torbert.  The next 267 days are going to be incredible!  With love and respect, Patti