MILITARY ADMIRATION
Stars for Our Troops celebrating 10th anniversary
TROY, N.Y. » Local organization Stars for Our Troops Inc. is celebrating its 10th anniversary of showing appreciation for U.S. military servicemembers and veterans.
For 10 years, Stars for Our Troops has fulfilled its mission of “thanking those that served and are serving” by providing U. S. veterans and active duty military personnel a reminder that they are not forgotten.
This little gift of thanks comes in the form of a star from a retired American flag. The star is packaged along with a note that says “I am part of our American flag that has flown over the USA. I can no longer fly. The sun and winds caused me to become tattered and torn. Please carry me as a reminder that You are not forgotten.”
Stars for Our Troops is an organization of patriotic volunteers who take old U.S. flags, which are retired from service, and pass the legacy of their embroidered stars to those that defended them.
Over the past decade, Stars for Our Troops has distributed approximately 915,000 stars, and more are being delivered all the time.
What started as a small project for Troy resident Susan Wells in 2010, has
grown way beyond what she ever anticipated.
That year, after a friend told Wells about a similar effort in Florida, she agreed to do four flags.
In giving out those first 200 stars, even just the first few, Wells realized this was an important initiative.
One of the initial local star recipients, a Vietnam War veteran, told Wells with tears in his eyes that it was the first thank you he’d received since returning home from Vietnam.
After handing the stars out over the past 10 years, Wells and other Stars for Our Troops representatives have
countless stories of star recipients who truly appreciate this small token of acknowledgement.
Since its humble beginnings, Stars for Our Troops has welcomed many “starmakers” from near and far to be part of the ongoing project.
“We have starmakers across the country,” Wells said, noting that volunteers of all ages and abilities can participate.
Locally, there is a group of volunteers that meet regularly at the Cohoes-Waterford Elks Lodge for “star parties,” at which they prepare and
package the stars for distribution.
Additionally, there are scout troops, churches, veteran organizations, nursing homes, Blue Star Mothers and individual volunteers from the Capital Region and all throughout the nation who are now involved with Stars for Our Troops.
“It’s the love of our country, as we’re working on the stars, that goes into it,” Wells said. “When there’s a group of people gathered and you start laughing, all that spirit goes into the stars.”
When Stars for Our Troops assembles a bag for delivery, it comes with a total of 50 stars, but they’re not all from the same flag.
“We mix our stars before we create our bags of 50 stars,” Wells said. “This way it represents the United States of America. We don’t look the same. Some of us are nice and shiny and some of us are really getting old and have knots and challenges, and some of us are big and some are small and some are skinny, and sometimes the backgrounds for the stars can be faded.
“Sometimes it’s a bright blue. But it represents all of us.”
The various stars have traveled all around the country, given out at special events, on airplanes and in grocery store parking lots, as well as sent to military bases overseas. They’ve even been distributed at the United States Military Academy and The Pentagon.
Recently, stars were included along with Christmas trees being transported from Saratoga County to a U.S. military base in Georgia and Florida as part of the Trees for Troops program.
Though Wells never imagined this initiative would become so widespread, she’s glad it has.
“It keeps growing,” Wells said.
For 2020, Stars for Our Troops is on track to deliver a total of 125,000 stars before the end of the year.
Looking ahead, Wells said the goal for the future of Stars for Our Troops is simply to continue honoring U.S. military members and veterans.
“As long as we have people that are protecting us, either here or someplace else in the universe,” Wells said, “we want them, anyone who is in our United States military, to know that someone here is always thinking of them. And veterans, we want to honor them as much as we do for those that are currently serving.”
She continued, “It’s to let them know we do care - we as in the U.S. A. - care.” More information about Stars for Our Troops Inc. is available online at www.starsforourtroops.org, where visitors can find details on how to order stars, make donations or volunteer.