Blue Star Mother’s active at library
Display: The Blue Star Mothers have a display of letters and other memorabilia from different wars at the Coshocton Public Library. Beacon photo by Josie Sellers
COSHOCTON – Marge Pizzino has a letter her father wrote to her mother during World War II and several other items from his time in the service that are part of the Blue Star Mothers display at the Coshocton Public Library.
The letter especially means a lot to her because it shows the human side of war.
“The purpose of our display is not to show the devastation of war, but the camaraderie between those who were there,” Pizzino said.
Her father’s letter describes a trip he and a couple of friends took to Berchtesgaden to see Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. Pizzino’s father explains how he and his friends struggled through deep snow and refused to let a broken elevator stop them from their destination. He also shared how surprised they were to come across two German citizens, one of them being the designer and operator of the elevator.
“They were wet and very exhausted and the German’s asked them in,” Pizzino said. “They made them tea and dried their socks and shoes.”
Her father and his friends relaxed with the Germans and talked to them the best they could despite their language barrier.
The Blue Star Mothers’ display at the library also includes letters Pizzino found online from Civil War, World War I and the Vietnam War.
“We wanted to focus on what the soldiers and airmen brought home with them and the letters they wrote,” she said.
Donation: Cathy Meek, Eric Taggart and Marge Pizzino stand in front of a display of books the Blue Star Mothers Coshocton OH59 donated to the Coshocton Public Library. Meek and Pizzino are members of the local Blue Star Mother’s chapter and Taggart is director of the library. Beacon photo by Josie Sellers
The local Blue Star Mother’s chapter also recently donated about 20 books to the library that deal with issues military families face.
“We were looking for projects and searched the library’s catalog to see what books there were on military life,” Pizzino said. “When you are active military and not near a base you can experience a disconnection. When you are near a base there are always seminars going on about different issues and access to medical care and other things.”
The Blue Star Mother’s discovered there were not books available to help military families with these issues so they worked with Eric Taggart, library director, to fill that hole.
“They span different age groups and concerns,” Pizzino said. “There are books to help kids understand where mom and dad have gone and help people deal with post deployment and post active duty issues.”
Cathy Meek, who also belongs to the Blue Star Mothers, said the children’s books would have been helpful when she had her grandchild when her son, who is in the U.S. Navy, was out to sea.
“We always have reading time and I think these children’s books would have helped him,” she said.
Taggart greatly appreciated the Blue Star Mothers help with research to find the perfect books to add to the library’s collection and for purchasing them.
“They were a pleasure to work with and I think we chose titles that will be most helpful to our military families,” he said. “We want to meet the needs of the community and I’m glad they pointed out an area that needed worked on.”
The books are on display at the library and are all available to be checked out. Each book also has a label explaining that it was donated by the Blue Star Mothers.
Taggart is hoping the display will also make more people aware of the local Blue Star Mothers chapter.
“Books are nice, but sometimes it’s also helpful to talk to people who have been there and gone through what you are,” he said.
The Blue Star Mothers honor those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. the second Monday of the month at The Church of the Nazarene, 1058 Orange St.
josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
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