The Michael Strange Foundation recently held a four-day workshop for Gold Star families.
The foundation is in memory of Navy Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Petty Officer First Class Michael Strange, a Wissinoming native and 2004 North Catholic graduate who died on Aug. 6, 2011 of wounds caused when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter he was aboard crashed in Wardak Province, Afghanistan. He was 25 and was among 30 Americans killed.
Charlie Strange, Michael’s father, started the foundation, with the help of his wife Mary and others.
Families who lost a loved one in service to the country came from places like Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado and Iowa to take part in a series of activities, all designed to continue to help in the healing process. The foundation pays for all meals, travel and lodging.
Families attended a Phillies game and ate at Mission BBQ. They had cheesesteaks at Tony & Nick’s Steaks, in South Philadelphia, which has three displays honoring Michael Strange and others who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice.
The families attended workshop sessions led by grief counselor Mandi Love.
Families also gathered at the CTR1 Michael J. Strange Post 6617/Bustleton Memorial American Legion Post 810, at 9151 Old Newtown Road, for an event that featured dinner, a DJ and live music by Luke Jardel and the Apostles. State Sen. Joe Picozzi was among those in attendance.
At the event, the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets William E. Taylor Division, of Kennett Square, presented the colors for the Star-Spangled Banner.
“God bless them,” Charlie Strange said. “They never say no.”
Families spoke of how the foundation has helped them.
“We’ve become one great, big family,” said Stacie Beals, of Salem County, New Jersey, whose son Dalton died in 2021 during Marine training. “We laugh together. We cry together.”
Steve Fowlkes traveled from Gaffney, South Carolina. His son Christopher, a Marine, died in Afghanistan in 2009.
“They’ve helped us out mentally dealing with what we were dealing with,” he said of the foundation’s work. “It’s done me a world of good.”
Kristofer and Naomi Lee traveled from Surprise, Arizona. Kristofer’s brother Marc was a Navy SEAL who was killed in Iraq in 2006. The Lees operate America’s Mighty Warriors, which supports troops, veterans and families of the fallen with programs that improve their quality of life. They appreciated the Michael Strange Foundation workshops on grief coping and information sharing among families.
“We align with what they are doing,” Kristofer Lee said, likening America’s Mighty Warriors to the Michael Strange Foundation.
Kathy Bowman Mosher, of Elkton, Maryland, is an Army veteran and Gold Star sister and wife, losing her brother Richard in 1970 in Cambodia and her husband Les, a Vietnam War veteran, to Agent Orange exposure in 2008. She’s been attending Michael Strange Foundation workshops for three years.
“They’ve helped all of us with all of our needs,” she said. ••
For more information, visit MichaelStrange.Foundation.
Donations can be made at https://michaelstrange.foundation/donate/
