Like millions of other American mothers throughout history, Paw Paw’s Laura De Roo knows the incredible pride one feels to see a child serve in their country in the armed forces.

She also knows the overwhelming heartache that comes when that child sacrifices their life while performing that service.

Since her son’s death several years ago, De Roo has since dedicated her life to honoring his memory by supporting the men and women that continue to serve in the U.S. military, as a founding member of the Blue Star Mothers of Southwest Michigan.

De Roo spoke of the role that her nonprofit service organization plays both locally in Cass County and across the country during Thursday’s meeting of the Dowagiac Rotary Club, which took place at noon at the Elks Club. The Paw Paw woman was invited to speak to the club by Rotarian Katie Marshall, whose husband Alex had served several tours overseas in Afghanistan while enlisted in the Army.

Blue Star Mothers is a congressionally-charted service organization for mothers of U.S. soldiers to support current and former members of the armed service, along with their families. Today, Blue Star has over 6,000 members serving in 200 chapters located in all but eight states, De Roo said.

The organization draws its name from the Blue Star Flag, created by Army Captain Robert L. Queisser back in World War I as a way for families to display the number of members currently serving their country. Families are allowed to display the piece of fabric during times of war or armed conflict, with the number of blue stars representing how many members are currently serving while the gold stars representing family members who died in battle.

“The blue star represents hope and peace and pride, and the gold star represents sacrifice for our freedom,” De Roo said.

De Roo helped found the local chapter of Blue Star Mothers back in 2007, following the death of her son.

“When my son was killed, his death not just rocked our lives, our foundation, but all of the military families in our area,” De Roo said. “I could see they could use the support of one another.”

The group is one of 17 other chapters here in Michigan, she said. Among the services they provide to service members is the collection of donated gifts for holiday care packages. In the past, the group has donated over 130 such packages to soldiers overseas.

At the national and state level, Blue Star Mothers provides grants for educational opportunities, which are awarded to students from military families or veterans returning from active duty, De Roo said.

“Just a few years ago, they extended that to Blue Star mothers, so moms going back to school can apply for that,” De Roo said.