The Cupertino Courier

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Adopt-A-Mom--and one Blue Star Dad

By ANNE WARD ERNST

Mort Schorr is a veteran of World War II. He played on the men's basketball team at San José State University when he went to school there.

He has children, but it would be a stretch to call him a mom. Still, some do.

"I'm the only Blue Star Mom that's a dad," he says.

Schorr finds the South Bay Blue Star Moms non-discriminating and welcoming. He was the only dad honored this year at the second Adopt a Military Mom for Mother's Day event, held at Cupertino's Cypress Hotel.

Organizer Grace Witt created the event to help ease the stress of mothers she knew who had children who might be serving in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. She works with the South Bay Blue Star Moms group to select and give these moms, and dads, a special time.

Schorr was among 23 'mothers' and one wife who were treated to lunch and gifts at the event.

Schorr's 54-year-old son, Wayne, is a master sergeant in the Army on his second tour of duty, so Schorr was no stranger to worrying about a child in a battle-torn country. A couple of years ago, the 79-year-old Schorr attended his first South Bay Blue Star Moms meeting and listened to the women talk about how it felt to have a loved one serving in the war in Iraq.

"After listening to them, I said, 'I consider myself a Blue Star Mom.' " The feeling, the women say, is mutual.

The history

"After being in the military myself, I understand how important it is to receive things from home," Schorr says. The group is there for moral support and empathy for those who have loved ones serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"We're all in the same boat," Schorr says.

Schorr's own mother was a Blue Star Mother. He remembers seeing the organization's symbol displayed at his family home after he and his two brothers joined up to fight in the Great War.

"My mom had a banner that had three stars on it," he says. Each star symbolized an active service member. If a service member dies during a war, the blue star is changed to gold.

For more information about South Bay Blue Star Moms, visit www.southbaybluestarmoms.org