Youngsville woman elected president of American Gold Star Mothers

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By Justin Thompson
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The mother of a fallen Army soldier was chosen to head up the American Gold Star Mothers, a nonprofit that honors the legacy of fallen service members, during the organization’s national convention last month.

Patti Elliott, of Youngsville, served on the Gold Star Mother’s national executive board for the last four years. She most recently served as the board’s vice president before being chosen to lead the nonprofit for a standard one year term.
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Elliott’s son, SPC Daniel “Lucas” Elliott, was killed on July 15, 2011, in Basra, Iraq. Lucas was an MP in the Army Reserve, attached to the 805th MP CO, located in Cary. Lucas’s awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge.

A self described “joiner,” Elliott has been involved in a number of civic organizations in the last few decades. Notably, she was president of her local chapter of the Blue Star Mothers of America while Lucas was enlisted and deployed.

The Blue Star Mothers are a sister organization of the Gold Star Mothers, with the former focusing its efforts on supporting families of active duty U.S. service members.

After Lucas’s death, Elliott found the Gold Star Mothers to be a valuable support system for her, and a natural extension of her passion for civic betterment through volunteer work.

“It’s so important that somebody is speaking up for those who served our country and have passed on, and is working to support their families,” she said. “It just lit a fire under me to continue to do that with whatever platform that I could.”

Each president picks their own theme to guide their tenure. Elliot chose the idea of “standing in the gap.” Stemming from the biblical tale of Moses standing in the gap to save the Jewish nation, Elliott finds as much inspiration in its secular interpretation.

She says the idea of standing in the gap calls for those who are still alive to stand in place of a fallen defender, and to honor them by taking up the torch of their legacy and carrying it onward in their absence.

“If my son were still alive, whether or not he was continuing to serve in the military, he would be advocating for veterans and those who are currently serving and doing everything that he could to help them with that same camaraderie and spirit of brotherhood that is so prevalent in the military,” Elliott said.

To fulfill her chosen theme through community action, Elliott hopes to grow a number of volunteer programs that the Gold Star Mothers currently participate in or spearhead.

One is a kind of pen pal campaign offered through Veterans Affairs. Veterans who are either homebound or reluctant to seek community through face-to-face engagement opt into the program, and are paired with a volunteer who regularly calls them to check in, offer assistance, or just say hello.

The campaign was created in response to concerns over close physical interaction during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has only been bolstered in recent years as interest continues to grow.

“We’ve seen great interest in the program and it just means the world to our veterans,” she said.

The other is more hands-on, and involves volunteers writing and delivering cards to veterans in nursing homes or hospice care. She says that the program could easily be applied to towns like Wake Forest with strong civic engagement and a number of veterans who reside in assisted living facilities.

Elliott says the programs offers hope and companionship to those who might otherwise lack for interaction with family or neighbors. 

“These are ways for our members to get involved and continue to make an impact that meet their individual needs and life circumstances,” she said.

Elliott’s son Brad lives in Wake Forest, and she is familiar with the town and it’s penchant for patriotism. She hopes that kind of spirit makes it a hotbed for community engagement for the Gold Star Mothers.

“The love and support that I’ve had from the community has been absolutely amazing, and I know that not every mother is lucky enough to have that support in their communities,” she said.” I just appreciate everything that everyone around here has done over the last 13 years

​Elliott said she hopes that her term as president will see increased engagement, strong interest among volunteers and an excess of enthusiasm embodied and empathy displayed among its members.
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“We can’t do this alone. We need every one in the community to help support us so we can do as much good work as we can.”