Philadelphia Phillies Honor American Gold Star Mothers: 'We Can't Let Them Die'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Memorial Day is especially solemn for the families who have lost a loved one killed while serving our country. At Citizens Bank Park, a special ceremony was held Monday afternoon for American gold star mothers.
This is one organization no mother wants to be a part of, set up to honor those whose sons or daughters died during active duty.
On Monday, those moms were honored so that we may all never forget.
"Every fallen hero, every veteran, every person who served, they may not have had children, they may not have had a spouse but every one of them had a mother," said Lee-Ann Forsythe, a national service officer with American Gold Star Mothers.
Forsythe is a marine and mother who knows what it means to make the ultimate sacrifice. Her son Marc Leeland Plotts, a third-generation marine, was killed in March 2010 during a training exercise preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. He was just 20 years old.
Forsythe is now one of the thousands of gold star mothers who honor their sons or daughters killed while serving our country.
"There's a saying that you die twice. The first time you die is the last breath you take and the second time you die is the last time someone says your name. So our mission is to say their names," Forsythe said.
On Monday, the Phillies honored these moms and their fallen heroes with a special ceremony including the first-ever gold star seat inside Citizens Bank Park.
Team owner John Middleton lost a cousin during active service in 2004.
"Honoring the gold star mothers is so important because what our military has done for us -- the men and women who've served -- have given us our freedoms," Middleton said.
United as a nation with the promise to never forget.
"We can't let them die. We have to remember every day and especially on Memorial Day we have to remember what they sacrificed so that we can do these things. We can go to baseball games, we can say what we want to say, we have freedoms," Forsythe said.
Pennsylvania is home to nearly 800,000 veterans.
