ABC6 Honors: Gold Star mother keeping their son’s memory alive

December 22, 2016 12:02 am

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Christmas tree is considered by most to be the best-known symbol of the holiday.

The Heroes Tree at the Rhode Island State House is much more than that. Each ornament is in honor of a local service-member who passed away.

Each one holds a story to unwrap.

One of those stories is Sgt. Brian St. Germain’s. That is a story his mother loves to tell.

"When Brian was in high school, Brian was an amazing track star. All-state, All-division," said Brian’s mother, Lynn St. Germain- Lundh

Brian graduated from West Warwick High school in 2001 and didn’t know what he wanted to do afterward.

"[He] wasn’t really happy about college, decided that he wanted to do something a little bit more," said Lynn.

He found his calling as a United States Marine serving first in Japan, and then a tour in Iraq.

When he returned in 2005 he had no idea it would be his last Christmas home. Within a few months, Brian’s unit was heading back to Iraq.

He could’ve used his reenlistment to get out of it, but that wasn’t the way Brian operated.

"He said, ‘I’m not letting my Marines go over there without me. I trained with them,’ he said, ‘So I’m going to go over with them,’" said Lynn. "Of course, my words to him were, ‘I feel like you’re tempting fate. You made it home safe once.’"

During his next tour, Brian wasn’t so lucky. On April 2, 2006, Lynn got the news she dreaded most.

"We started shutting the lights down to go to bed…and the door bell rang. And I just looked at my husband and I said, ‘Don’t get it,’" said Lynn. "He looked at me and said, ‘What do you mean, "Don’t get it?"’ I said, ‘If you don’t get it, I don’t have to face it.’"

Eventually, she did have to face it. Her son had been killed when his convoy rolled over in a flash flood.

Lynn quickly turned that pain into something constructive. Just months after his death, she started raising money in Brian’s honor.

Thousands for Toys for Tots, a scholarship in his name, and finally after ten years of fundraising, the newly renovated Sgt. Brian St. Germain track at West Warwick High School; unveiled this past September.

"It was very important to me that people know who Brian was. And I think if you speak with any Gold Star parent, they’ll tell you the same thing, we need, we want, our children to be remembered," said Lynn.

While she strives for that year-round, the remembrance at Christmas is a welcome start.

"The biggest thing is, don’t be afraid to say their name, don’t be afraid to ask us about them. And I think so many people are afraid to ask us because they think they’re going to remind us that they’re gone. And they’re not. We live that every day. So saying their name, that reminds us that you remember that they lived. And that I think is much more important," said Lynn.