{"id":13842,"date":"2023-06-06T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=13842"},"modified":"2023-06-07T06:50:27","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T06:50:27","slug":"navy-veteran-va-employee-gold-star-mother-remembers-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=13842","title":{"rendered":"Navy Veteran, VA employee, Gold Star mother remembers son"},"content":{"rendered":"

Evelyn Brady, Navy Veteran and mother of three, had her world turned upside down in 2019. She\u2019s now championing efforts to bring awareness to those who, like her, carry the title of Gold Star Family.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one wants to be a Gold Star Family. The title is bittersweet, but we have an obligation to be there for one another and ensure our sons and daughters are remembered for their service.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Dec. 6, 2019, a terrorist opened fire on a classroom at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Brady\u2019s son, 19-year-old Naval Aircrewman 3rd Class Mohammed \u201cMo\u201d Haitham, along with two other sailors, were killed when they ran toward the gunman.<\/p>\n

Several weeks later, the Department of Justice and the FBI would officially\u00a0rule<\/a> the shooting an act of terrorism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t look at the news because I didn\u2019t want to see it,\u201d said Brady, who serves as a program support specialist at Bay Pines VA<\/a>. \u201cI just started praying that he was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSaw lips moving but didn\u2019t hear a word.\u201d<\/h2>\n

That evening, Brady was at home with her youngest son Irvin when they received a knock at the door. \u201cWhen Irvin called me to the door, I just saw lips moving, but I didn\u2019t hear a word. My world was immediately shattered and I just broke down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, Brady has given several interviews in support of her son, including one on the anniversary of his death last December.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged the love and support she received from family and friends was wonderful, but even with their help she found it difficult to turn the corner and deal with the death of her son. \u201cI was blinded by grief and I tried to do it alone. The only people who really know what we\u2019re going through are those experiencing the same thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a>
Naval Aircrewman Mohammed \u201cMo\u201d Haitham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

After connecting with a Gold Star Family who reached out to her in 2021, she began attending Gold Star events. It was during one of the presentations that Brady received her wake-up call.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike she was talking directly to me.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cA Gold Star Mother was speaking and it was like she was talking directly to me. It just hit me square in the heart, and I knew this was where I needed to be and what I could do to help myself through this while honoring Mo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Brady joined American Gold Star Mothers in 2022. Over the past year, she has worked to advocate for awareness and support for Gold Star families.<\/p>\n

Brady is second from left in the photo above, standing with women from the American Gold Star Mothers Tampa Bay Chapter and CDCE<\/a> representative Ron Messner at an informational table for Veterans at Bay Pines VA.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI understand what it\u2019s like to go it alone and it\u2019s tough. I just want every Gold Star Family to know that when you\u2019re ready there\u2019s a community of amazing people who are going through the same thing, and we\u2019re here and ready to support you,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

When Mo followed in his mother\u2019s footsteps and joined the Navy, she set up a Facebook account for him titled Mohammed\u2019s Navy Journey<\/a>. She\u2019s kept the page active so others can learn more about her son. NAS Pensacola also established a Building 633 Memorial<\/a> that honors the sacrifices of Mo and his fellow sailors that day.<\/p>\n

On May 29, Brady was one of several Gold Star Mothers and Families honored as part of the Bay Pines VA and National Cemetery annual Memorial Day observance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Evelyn Brady, Navy Veteran and mother of three, had her world turned upside down in 2019. She\u2019s now championing efforts to bring awareness to those who, like her, carry the title of Gold Star Family. \u201cNo one wants to be a Gold Star Family. The title is bittersweet, but we have an obligation to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[392,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gold-star-mothers","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13842"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13845,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13842\/revisions\/13845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}