Gold Star Children
Year | 2012 |
Director(s) | Mitty Griffis Mirrer |
Runtime | 60 minutes |
Producer(s) | Cathy L. Saypol, Johanna Ramos-Boyer, Mitty Griffis Mirrer, Nick Quested |
A Gold Star child is one who has lost a parent to war. This is a cross-generational story of the Gold Star children of Vietnam who mentor the Gold Star children of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The director, a Gold Star child herself, finds the remarkable nine-year-old Cierra Becker, whose father was killed in Iraq in 2007. Cierra is stunningly articulate. She is introduced to Jennifer Denard through the military family organization TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors). Jennifer lost her father in Vietnam when she was two years old. As their relationship grows, so does their ability to cope with their shared loss, and Jennifer finds healing that had previously eluded her.
Told with clarity and nuance that can only be articulated by one who has gone through such an experience, this is a film about the redemptive power of sharing and the resilience of our nation’s children of war.