Lake County Gazette

State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) recently filed legislation that would expand recognition for families of fallen Illinois servicemembers.

"In 2021, I was proud to support legislation that provided that a State of Illinois flag will be presented to the next of kin of a member of the IL National Guard who is killed while on active duty," Wilcox wrote in a Jan 7. Facebook post. "This week I filed legislation to expand that program to include all Illinois servicemen/women who perish while on active duty. It’s a small, yet meaningful gesture to let our Gold Star families know we appreciate their loved one’s sacrifice and service."

According to a press release, Senate Bill 3031 would expand the new law offering an Illinois state flag to the next of kin of deceased National Guard members to include all Illinois servicemembers who lose their lives while on duty.

"This is a common-sense change that I expect will receive wide, bipartisan support," Wilcox wrote in the press release. "I look forward to presenting this legislation to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in the coming weeks."

Several of the new laws that took effect Jan. 1 were aimed at service members, veterans, and their families.

NBC 5 Chicago News reports that another new law will offer free Gold Star license plates to surviving widows, widowers, or parents of U.S. personnel that fell in service of the Armed Forces. These specialty plates previously had a $151 registration fee. 

The immediate family of a member of the US Armed Forces who has died or been killed is known as a Gold Star Family, according to Hope For Warriors. The term originated with the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defenses, who suggested that mothers who had lost children serving in World War I could wear an armband with a gold star on it to symbolize their loss. 

President Wilson approved of this suggestion and is believed to have coined the term “Gold Star Mother.”

In 2011, President Barack Obama amended the law to include recognition for all Gold Star family members.

According to Military One Source, the last Sunday of September is designated as Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, and April 5 is designated as Gold Star Spouses Day.