Gold Star families attend memorial monument event in Tucson

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - New Honors for the families of servicemen and women in Tucson who sacrificed their lives while serving.

A new memorial now stands on Tucson’s southside to honor Gold Star families. It’s part of a program created by late Medal of Honor recipient Hershel “Woody” Williams.

More than 200 people today dedicated their Tuesday morning to the brave men and women who once served our country. The new Gold Star Families Memorial Monument now stands at Veteran’s Gold State Park.

Marsha Moon’s son Christopher turned down a sports scholarship to the University of Arizona in 2008 and chose to enlist in the army instead.

While serving, he had an IED go off underneath him while in Afghanistan. “Our veterans sacrificed. And it’s just not them it ripples through the family. When we lose a loved one, it goes beyond that. It goes through the whole community,” Moon shared during the ceremony.

She added that she hopes the community also takes a lot away from this new addition. “I just want them to know where their freedom comes from. It takes that one percent to want to serve our country. There’s very few that want to do that,” she continued.

Also in attendance was Martha Ortiz-Robles and her family while they honored her late brother Antonio on what would have been his birthday.

“He was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He was 70 when he passed away. He had a lot of dreams,” Ortiz-Robles said.

This monument was created thanks to the Pima County Board of Supervisors and a group of volunteers with the Woody Williams Memorial Foundation.

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