Gold Star Stories

Sergeant First Class Paul Smith was the first soldier who served in Afghanistan or Iraq to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor. Sergeant Smith, 33, grew up in Tampa, enlisted straight out of high school in 1989. The...

Lance Corporal Jose Gutierrez, 27, a rifleman with the Marines, died in a tank battle on March 21, 2003,  near Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. Gutierrez was one of 38,000 non-citizens who serve in the U.S. military. At 14, with...

Technical Sergeant Joseph Lemm, was a NYPD veteran and a technical sergeant in the Air Guard’s 105th Base Security Squadron. He served two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. Lemm was one of six soldiers...

On Sunday November 12th, 2006, First Lt. Michael A. Cerrone was riding in the lead Humvee of a convoy patrolling near Samarra, Iraq. He left his Humvee to inspect a suspicious vehicle. As he approached an IED...

U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan was killed in Baquabah, Iraq on June 8th, 2004. As a suspicious car drove toward the front of the base, Captain Kahn ordered his troops to step back. He took 10 steps forward...