An annual motorcycle ride to honor fallen military service members kicked off its ninth year at the West Virginia Capital.
Motorcycles lined the sidewalks of the West Virginia Capitol grounds and leather-clad riders milled about the Gold Star Monument Thursday morning, awaiting their Special Guest Road Captain, Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va.
In remarks before the ride began, Manchin expressed his gratitude to the families of veterans.
“I’ve said this to all of you, and I mean this to all the riders,” Manchin said. “I don’t know more patriotic people in the United States of America that’s willing to give their time, effort and the resources to help a worthy cause. And I don’t, I can’t say thank you enough to all of you.”
The ninth annual Ride for Fallen Service Heroes began at the Capitol in Charleston and ended at the Veterans Memorial Arch in Huntington.
Manchin is not seeking reelection and changed his party affiliation from Democrat to independent in May of this year.
“Someone said, ‘Is this going to be your last one?’ Absolutely no, I’m not going anywhere,” Manchin said. “I’m just not going back to Washington. I’m staying right here, and we’re going to continue to do this. I said, ‘As long as I can hold that bike up and it not fall over on me, I’m going to ride.’”
West Virginia’s Gold Star organizations offer veterans and the families of fallen service members ongoing support through year-round fundraising and programming.
Listen to an interview with Emily Zirkelbach about her reporting.
Shirley White lost two of her three boys in a three-year period between 2005 and 2008.
The brothers were on the same deployment cycle in 2005 — one sent to Afghanistan with the United States Army under Staff Sergeant Robert White, and the other sent to Iraq with the United States Marines under Corporal Andrew White.
It seemed like a normal day in September when the casualty assistance officer called to say Robert had been killed in action. He was working to secure election sites for Afghan citizens to vote when a group of insurgents attacked. A rocket propelled grenade was launched at his convoy, killing him instantly.
Andrew returned home to Cross Lanes, West Virginia, dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and potential survivor’s guilt after his brother’s death. The Veterans Affairs hospital in Charleston had prescribed him medication to manage his symptoms, but he wasn’t improving.
In February 2008, Shirley White returned home from her work as a public school teacher and called out to her son. When she got no response, she went to his room to find that he died in his sleep from fatal drug intoxication derived from his issues with PTSD.
It took White weeks to be able to start moving again. “It was like our world fell apart,” she said.
It wasn’t until she was introduced to the Gold Star Mothers program by a friend that White started to feel some sense of “normalcy.” She now dedicates her life to the Gold Star program based in Charleston.
“This has been my therapy for the last 10 years,” White said. “Everything I do is to honor my boys.”
W.Va. Distribution Of Gold Star Families From Recent Conflicts
Graphic Credit: Emily Zirkelbach
White’s is one of 472,223 registered Gold Star Families nationwide with a story of loss in military service. There are 7,395 families registered in the state of West Virginia alone.
The Gold Star Mothers organization was founded in 1928 by Grace Seibold, a woman who lost her son, George, during World War I. Seibold realized that she needed an outlet to help manage her grief, so she organized a group of mothers around veteran advocacy.
When White came to the organization, she embraced its mission, which included sharing the grief of other mothers who lost children in military service and honoring fallen service members across the country.
West Virginia’s chapter surged in participation during the Vietnam era, but fizzled as mothers aged out and could not remain active in the organization.
In 2012, as White started to regain her sense of self after losing her boys, she worked with fellow Gold Star Mother Emma Johnson to recharter the chapter with only five members.
The organization continued to struggle with financial stability and membership enrollment until recruitment picked up around 2015. By 2018, they were 21 strong.
When Terry Cunningham lost her son in 2018, the national organization had already expanded and changed its name to Gold Star Families, an effort initiated in 2007. The expansion in title aimed to include all family members experiencing the loss of a military service member.
Cunningham’s son, Staff Sergeant Robert Cunningham, took his own life, but before 2018 families who lost a loved one to suicide weren’t eligible for inclusion in Gold Star organizations. As time went on, the link between mental health and military deaths became better understood, so eligibility was expanded.
“If they hadn’t started having so many suicides, I probably would not have been considered a registered member, because that was not originally accepted,” she said. But “it’s been happening so much and so frequently.”
In 2007, when the national organization expanded to include entire families, it also began to expand its scope, raising money and spreading awareness about the needs of veterans and their communities.
It granted scholarships to Gold Star children, built memorials, created grief counseling programs for families and more. Benefits like the Fry Scholarship, which is given to children of active duty members who died on or after 9/11, became available.
Shirley White has served as a member of her West Virginia Gold Star Mothers local chapter since 2012. From 2013 to 2022, she led the organization as president.
Photo Credit: Emily Zirkelbach/West Virginia University Reed College of Media
In recent years, there have been a few changes to how families are able to receive federally distributed benefits.
In August 2011, federal legislation barred service members’ children from receiving more than one of the familial benefits at the same time. Lawmakers said this was part of an effort to reduce federal spending.
Additionally, spouses of a deceased military member were previously not permitted to take advantage of benefits if they remarried. In June 2021, a bill was presented to the House to allow spouses to use those benefits regardless of marital status.
The national organization is supported through federal funding. It handles national projects like sending birthday cards to children who lost a military parent, awarding 25 different $1,000 scholarships to students across the country and helping name highways and place markers in honor of local veterans.
Categorized as nonprofits, local chapters must subsidize any additional programming through independent fundraising and donations.
Cunningham said that West Virginia’s chapter receives around 25 calls each month for help in various areas regarding veterans affairs and memorial services.
“We’ve paid people’s bills. We provided one veteran with water — he couldn’t afford his plumbing,” she said. “We’ve paid for car repairs. … That’s just some of the things that we do.”
Penny Lipscomb, a previous Army Reserve member and director of veterans’ services at West Virginia University, said veterans often need more support than the local Veterans Affairs office can provide.
After fulfilling their contracts, veterans are expected to seamlessly integrate back into civilian life, she said. But that process often comes with unexpected challenges for military personnel.
Service members “always get told what to do and when to do it,” Lipscomb said. “Having that sense of freedom can be difficult.”
White said that this is where the Gold Star program comes in: providing the active, emotional support veterans need to reintegrate into civilian life.
On the last weekend of September, Gold Star families in West Virginia gather for a retreat in Kingwood that overlaps with National Gold Star Mother’s Day and Families Day.
This is just one of the state’s annual events that build community for these families. Another is a motorcycle ride over the New River Gorge Bridge, where hundreds of bikers ride together to honor the fallen.
“When it comes to basically a patriotic cause or supporting families who have lost a loved one in military service, it doesn’t get any better than that for us to show the respect we have and the support that they need,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va, during the 2023 motorcycle ride.
Other state-level events include planting apple orchards and hosting memorial services for fallen service members in their home counties.
Events like these are only possible with the support of local Gold Star Families or external donors, White said. Gold Star mothers and families can only raise money through donations, fundraising events and other sponsorships.
Gold Star Mother Shirley White gazes at her sons’ memorabilia displayed in her Canaan Valley home.
Photo Credit: Emily Zirkelbach/West Virginia University Reed College of Media
According to White, limitations associated with its nonprofit status make it hard for the West Virginia chapter to stay afloat.
“When we first rechartered, all of our expenses came out of my pocket,” she said.
White said that she writes grant requests to various foundations with the hope of receiving funds to participate in veterans’ affairs events they cannot afford on their own.
Despite the difficulty of raising funds for all activities and state events, the West Virginia chapter of Gold Star gave away $102,000 in 2023 — $93,600 more than it did in 2022, according to ProPublica.
When a military service member dies, Fort Knox calls the local Gold Star chapter coordinator, describes the case to them and relies on local representatives to communicate with the families and invite them to join the organization.
Leigh Ann Hill, the only Gold Star survivor outreach coordinator for the state of West Virginia, said that it is easy for families to “slip between the cracks.”
“I wish there was more that could be done. I wish there was another me … so we could do more things,” she said.
Some families, like those of White and Cunningham, join the organization to make it better. But this can be difficult for families experiencing grief.
“For some, it’s too much to handle. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but I used to go home and cry” after events, she said. “Sometimes [people] come back, sometimes they don’t. It’s tough.”
For many veterans and family members of fallen service members, Gold Star organizations play an important role in providing week-to-week support. Still, some say they aren’t yet able to do enough.
People like White and Cunningham remain motivated by a desire to leave these organizations better than they found them.
“We do this to honor our children who did not have the opportunity to become veterans,” Cunningham said. “We do this because we believe that you have two deaths: the physical death and when your name is no longer spoken.”
“We want our children’s names said,” she added.
Emily Zirkelbach discussed her reporting on this story with Jack Walker, West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Eastern Panhandle reporter, in the June 26, 2024 episode of West Virginia Morning.
Emily Zirkelbach is a recent graduate of West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media, and an incoming second lieutenant with the United States Air Force. For her capstone project, Zirkelbach sat down with several Gold Star families across the Mountain State to discuss their work supporting local veterans and families in grief. She spoke with WVPB to discuss what she learned.
Nearly 20,000 active-duty military service members died from 2006 to 2021. That’s not to mention the tens of thousands of veterans who died from physical and mental health issues tied to their service.
Dubbed “Gold Star families,” the loved ones of service members who die are left with grief that can last a lifetime. But many of these families turn their hardship into an opportunity to help others in need.
Emily Zirkelbach is a recent graduate of West Virginia University’s (WVU) Reed College of Media, and an incoming second lieutenant with the United States Air Force.
For her capstone project, Zirkelbach sat down with several Gold Star families across the Mountain State to discuss their work supporting local veterans and families in grief. She spoke with West Virginia Public Broadcasting Reporter Jack Walker to discuss what she learned.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Walker: Emily, we’re here today to talk about your story on Gold Star families in West Virginia. To begin, could you tell me a little bit about yourself, your background and studying journalism at West Virginia University?
Zirkelbach: My name is Emily Zirkelbach. I am a WVU alumna, and I majored in journalism, where I grew my love for storytelling. At the same time, I was going through the AFROTC program with the Air Force, and that’s where I recently commissioned. So I’m now a second lieutenant with the Air Force, so that’s really cool. I found this story through some colleagues that are in the Arnold Air Society program, which is affiliated with the Air Force. They were doing their community service project with Gold Star families. Through that, I started researching and getting involved with the project. That’s where I met Shirely White and Terry Cunnigham, who were previous and current chapter presidents. It really just took off from there.
Walker: Could you explain what a Gold Star family is, and what that organization does for the veteran community here in West Virginia?
Zirkelbach: So a Gold Star mother or a Gold Star family is one that has had a child or a family member pass away during military service. These members have either died in action or, in other cases, passed away from lingering issues after coming home. For example, according to the Gold Star family registry, there’s about 7,395 Gold Star families in the state of West Virginia alone. But these are just the families that have registered with the organization, and this doesn’t really count the people that have lost loved ones that have not registered with the program.
Walker: You mentioned earlier that Shirley White and Terry Cunningham are two people highly involved in Gold Star organizations or families here in West Virginia. Could you tell me a little about them, how they got involved in this program and what their stories are?
Zirkelbach: Shirley lost two of her boys, Bobby and Andrew, to military service. Bobby was lost in Afghanistan in 2005 due to an attack on his convoy, and Andrew was lost in 2008 after he came home due to complications [with] post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Terry lost her son Robert in 2018, also due to complications of PTSD.
Walker: What are some of those resources that these Gold Star mothers and Gold Star families offer to people who have lost loved ones?
Zirkelbach: There’s two different levels with the Gold Star program. There’s a national level and a local level. The national level is supported federally, and they have larger projects that they can do, like [giving] scholarships to students, [naming] highways after local heroes, erecting monuments, et cetera. Anything further that the local chapters want to do is — they’re categorized as a nonprofit. They have to be supported by donations and fundraising. That kind of affects the resources that the local level has. For example, the chapter here in West Virginia was rechartered in 2012 by Shirley White and her colleague Emma Johnson, and they started with five members. They’ve been able to increase that group by about 16 more members up until 2018, and it’s still growing to this day. So that’s part of why I wanted to do this story, to bring awareness to the program and the resources that they offer so that they can keep doing the great work that they are.
Walker: What are some of the things that the West Virginia Gold Star Mothers do in their chapter?
Zirkelbach: So, in my communication with the mothers, they told me that specifically their mission is to support the veterans in their community. They help them with things like paying their bills. They bring them food and water and things like that. I had the privilege of joining them on one of their activities where they were serving lunch to some disabled veterans that were taking part in a Challenged Athletes of West Virginia event, where the veterans were able to ski with specialized equipment that works with their specific disability. That was a really awesome experience. They told me that they want to help these veterans because their sons were never able to be veterans, and so it’s really important for them to be involved in that program.
Walker: What was your experience like bringing this story in, meeting these mothers and families and talking to them?
Zirkelbach: It was an extremely emotional experience. I was able to complete the story based on the contribution of a lot of different people, and each of them has their own stories. I learned so much in such a short time and really got to know the community of these people. They’re some of the most kind-hearted, strong-willed and dedicated people that I’ve come to know. Each of these moms and families have given the ultimate sacrifice. I don’t think I could put into words — let alone understand for myself — what these mothers and families have been through. But they get up each day looking for ways to be of service to the people in their community, and that really inspires me.
Walker: If there’s one thing you could say to wrap up the moral of this story and their work, what would it be?
Zirkelbach: Something that the mothers said to me that really resonated was, “You die twice: [Your] physical death, and when your name is no longer said.” What these mothers want is to have their children’s names said, and to have their children remembered and keep their spirits alive. Really, that was the purpose of this story. To get people to know these families’ stories and have their children’s names said.
On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia students are struggling to achieve proficiency in basic academic skills like reading and math, according to national test scores in recent years. One possible contributing factor: chronic absenteeism. But as Chris Schulz reports, a new law hopes to address the issue this fall.
On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia students are struggling to achieve proficiency in basic academic skills like reading and math, according to national test scores in recent years. One possible contributing factor: chronic absenteeism. But as Chris Schulz reports, a new law hopes to address the issue this fall.
Also, in this show, nearly 20,000 active-duty military service members died from 2006 to 2021. That’s not to mention thousands of veterans who died from issues tied to their service. Dubbed “Gold Star families,” the loved ones of service members who die are left with grief that can last a lifetime. But many of these families turn their hardship into an opportunity to help others in need.
West Virginia University (WVU) graduate Emily Zirkelbach spoke with reporter Jack Walker about what she learned from several Gold Star families across West Virginia.
West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.
Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.
Chris Schulz produced this episode.
Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning
If the legislature approves the resolution, a statue of Williams will replace that of John Kenna, a Confederate veteran who was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
Kenna’s statue would then be moved to the Culture Center in Charleston.
On this West Virginia Week, we have a decidedly literary slant as we hear from Shepherd University’s 2023 Appalachian Writer-in-Residence, and we also learn about Banned Book Week.
On this West Virginia Week, we have a decidedly literary slant as we hear from Shepherd University’s 2023 Appalachian Writer-in-Residence, and we also learn about Banned Book Week.
We’ll also hear feature stories about an elementary school turned community center, and Inside Appalachia brings us the story of a Pittsburgh artist making locally-inspired tarot cards.
Chris Schulz is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.
