A New Home for Blue Star Families!

Posted on September 3, 2009 by stephhn

Blue Star FamiliesWe’re rolling out the new website for Blue Star Families today!  We’ve created a new site with a place for every active duty, reserve or national guard military family member to Support, Connect and Empower.

The new site features a new Blue Star Voices blog and posts on a wide variety of topics.  If you’re new to the military life or a seasoned pro, struggling to balance military life and a career or military life and children, a veteran or a military parent, we have a blog for you!

Check out the new site and JOIN.

If you’ve already registered with BSF, no need to join again. Just click on the LOG IN button on the top of the page, enter the email you used to register, and request a password.  We’ll send it out to you right away.

Once you’ve joined or registered on  the new site, find a BSF Chapter near you and join.  We’ll make sure you find out about BSF and other military family events in your area.  Group Forums will be coming to the website soon and you won’t want to miss out all the fun!

Click here to JOIN now!

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3 Responses

  1. Sue Himel, on September 3, 2009 at 9:25 pm said:

    Just a lone comment…..Blue and Red divide our country right now. I believe in your mission, but you should have a more neutral name. Gold star families is a term from WWII….but that designation may be taken or archaic. My suggestion is to find a more neutral name.

    Sue Himel

  2. stephhn, on September 13, 2009 at 5:25 pm said:

    Sue – The term “Blue Star” is not referring to the Democratic party in any way! The Blue Star has long been the symbol of all military families with a service member at war. It’s been in use since WWII. Blue Star Families is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with no political affiliation or leanings.

  3. stephhn, on September 13, 2009 at 5:37 pm said:

    More information on the Blue Star for people:

    The Blue Star Flag, also known as the Service Flag or War Service Flag, is a tradition dating back to 1917. Army Captain Robert L. Queissner, of the 5th Ohio Infantry, created the flag to honor his two sons, who were serving on the front lines in World War I. It consisted of a white background with a red border, and had a blue star on it for each family member that was serving in the Armed Forces. In the event that a family member died in service, a gold star was sewn over the blue star. The flag quickly became the unofficial symbol of a child in service. Congress authorized the flag on October 17, 1943, and the Secretary of War approved the official design in February 1943. On July 31, 1968, the Pentagon issued regulations governing the design, use, display and purchase of Service flags and pins.

    DoD regulations currently state that family members authorized to display the Service flag include “wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, stepfathers, parents through adoption, foster parents who stand or stood in loco parentis, children, stepchildren, children through adoption, brothers, sisters, half brothers and half sisters of a members of the Armed Forces of the United States.” Regulations also state that “the service flag may be displayed in a window of the place of residence of persons who are members of the immediate family of Service members serving in the Armed Forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities in which the Armed Forces of the United States may be engaged for the duration of such period of war or hostilities. The Service flag may be displayed by an organization to honor the members of that organization serving in the Armed Forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities. The banners for organizations are also made in proportion to DOD specifications with blue stars placed on the white field to represent those members of the organization that are serving during the war or hostilities.”

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