India Garnett lost her brother Reuben in Vietnam.  She recounts what happened after they found out Reuben had been killed.

What happened, how we found out he died, was my baby sister Tracy was in the playroom. They had a playroom with refrigerators stove and all that. So she was in sweeping it and a knock came to the door.  It was a Steelton taxicab driver. He said, “Is your mother here?” And so, Tracy called “Mom! Steelton taxi driver is here!”

So mom goes to the door and the taxi driver says, “Can you get your husband?” And so then Mom gets Daddy and then the taxi driver gives him the telegram that says that Reuben is dead.

The taxi driver gives him the telegram that says that Reuben is dead.

After Reuben’s funeral, the Gold Star Mothers contacted Mom.  The president at that time of the Harrisburg chapter contacted Mom and asked, “Would you like to join us?  Our purpose is to comfort one another.” Mom said yes.

One day I was trying to walk off some pain, so I walked downtown and I saw Mom, near Second Street.  She was in her car and I said “Mommy what are you doing here?” She had her winter coat on and the windows rolled up and I said “What are you doing here?”

She said “I can’t tell you you’ll get angry.” After about 20 minutes she told me that the Harrisburg Gold Star Mothers president had contacted her and asked would you come and join. Then she called like the next day, or the day after that and said “They don’t want you. The membership said you should join the negro Gold Star chapter.”

And so from then on it was like who can I contact? What can I do?

It took 49 years…

“My son’s a hero.”

In 2015, they were planning the Memorial Day parade in Steelton. I was talking to my friend Susan.  She was going to put a paver down at the memorial place for the soldiers from Steelton that got killed. She asked me questions about Reuben, so I told her about the telegram and about the Gold Star Mothers chapter back in 1966.  She just cried. She said “I can’t believe this, India!”

Susan got in touch with Senators and she got in touch with the Gold Star Mothers down in D.C.  She gave the Gold Star Mothers president nine days.  She said “Our parade starts in nine days and I want Miss Garnett to have everything that she needs.”

And within a couple of days I went to my mailbox and an apology was there. The Gold Star was there, too. The little flag you hang on the window was there. All of it.

So much time had elapsed since Reuben had died, the most important thing for me was that my mom understood that that part of the fight was over. And you know what, she has frontal lobe dementia. But you know she understood what that Gold star meant.

And still, if you mention her son. she says “My son’s a hero.”