CCU’s Blue Star moms show their support
by Prufer
If you spend time with a group of Blue Star Mothers, there is bound to be plenty of hugging, sharing of cell phone photos, laughter -- and tears. After all, having a son or daughter in the armed services is not easy. Deployments take their toll on a family.
Four Coastal Carolina University employees are members of the Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina. The local group, part of the national organization of Blue Star Mothers, is not affiliated with CCU.
Blue Star Mothers are the mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, foster mothers and female legal guardians who have children serving in the military, guard or reserves, or children who are veterans. Mothers-in-law and grandmothers may join as associate members. There are 6,000 members in more than 200 chapters throughout the country.
Fifty women belong to the local chapter, plus 26 who are associates.
Wendy Singleton, Michelle Marken and Karen Grischuk are all Blue Star moms, and Laura Doerrbecker is joining the group since her 20-year-old son, Army Pvt. James Ignaszewski, might be deployed March 5.
“I am nervous,” says Doerrbecker, director of postal services at CCU. Her son, now stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., is in the Army Intelligence Unit and is waiting on orders as to whether he will join his unit, which has been deployed to Afghanistan.
Wendy Singleton, human resources data coordinator at CCU, is a single mother whose 23-year-old son Matthew is three and a half years into a four-year commitment. He is currently stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas, but came home for Christmas, the best present a mother could have. Her only child, Matthew was sent to Afghanistan for nine months two years ago, and it was the hardest holiday she could remember.
“There is lots of prayer, lots of talking on the phone and some Skype,” says Singleton, who wears a locket around her neck with Matthew’s birthstone (July), a tiny American flag, the Army logo and the word “mom.”
Karen Grischuk comes from a military family, so it’s no surprise that her 24-year-old stepdaughter Marlene is a sergeant in the Army Reserves, specializing in the psychological operation of interrogation and propaganda.
“My husband’s father was in the Navy, and my brother-in-law was in the Army,” says Grischuk, who works in postal services. “Marlene joined to serve her country and to get her veterinarian degree on the G.I. Bill.”
Marlene and her boyfriend live in Columbia, but they visited the family over the holidays, Grischuk reports, and now she’s waiting to hear whether she will be deployed.
“It’s [belonging to Blue Star Mothers] someone to hear and understand exactly what you’re going through,” says Grischuk.
Michelle Marken, who works in the University’s College of Science, has been historian for the Blue Star Mothers Coastal Carolina chapter since 2008. Her reason for belonging -- her son-in-law -- is now a veteran, but she keeps up with the group because it means so much to her.
“I’m just supporting all of them,” says Marken, who wears a Blue Star Moms jacket and makes a homemade card to add to every care package mailed. “It’s good to support our troops for what they’re doing for us over there.”
And support they do. There are monthly meetings and fundraising. The women welcome military home, collect socks and hygiene items, along with “boredom busters,” to send to the soldiers -- water guns and cards and books. They march in parades, lay wreaths on graves and attend funerals when necessary.
“It’s a huge way to give back,” says Grischuk. Her daughter has not been deployed, but she admits to “going through the emotions” when other sons and daughters are sent overseas. “People forget there are people who are in hostile countries on our behalf. They need all the support and love and prayers we can send them.”
If anyone is interested in joining Blue Star Mothers or just helping with their collections, please contact Marken at mmarken@coastal.edu or 843-349-2211.
