Memorial Day: Gold Star father honors son, helps other families

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Memorial Day is a time when the entire country pauses to remember our fallen service members, but for some families, those times of remembrance are constant.

Gold Star Families are those who lost a loved one in service. Action New's own TaRhonda Thomas, herself a Gold Star sister, recently met a Gold Star father who is helping other families while honoring his son's legacy.

"They do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves," said Charles Strange of America's military as he spoke to a crowd at Drexel University recently.

He delivered his keynote address with no notes in front of him because he spoke straight from the heart.

Those remarks were about a person he knows best: his hero - his son.

"I lost a piece of my heart that day," said Strange of his son, Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Strange.

He was a Purple Heart recipient and one of the Navy's top code breakers.

"I called him my James Bond guy!" Charles Strange said with a smile. "I said, 'Mike you're like James Bond!'"

Michael was also a member of Seal Team 6

"To make it to Seal Team 6 is the equivalent of two Harvard degrees," Charles Strange said with pride.

Michael's medals hang in a shadowbox on a wall, not on his uniform, because Michael made the ultimate sacrifice.

On August 6, 2011, the Chinook helicopter Michael was in was taken down by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"They got hit with an RPG," said Charles.

Twenty-five-year-old Michael and 29 of his fellow service members perished.

Charles Strange described the moment he got the news: "The knock on the door, three gentlemen that you never want to see. The most horrifying scream. Knocked me to my knees."

It's a pain few can understand. Action News Reporter TaRhonda Thomas is one of the few. Her brother, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Terry Thomas, gave his life in service in 2006. Sharing their stories and their grief, Charles said that Michael and Terry had some common traits that made them meant for service.

"He was always there to help others. The underdog you know. Just like your brother," Charles Strange said to Thomas.

Even while navigating through his own grief, strange helps other Gold Star Families. He created a foundation in his son's name: the Michael Strange Foundation. They provide workshops with grief counselors. It's all free for Gold Star Families.

"We get the parents to write a letter about their sons and daughters," he said of one of the activities.

Strange wishes more people remembered the sacrifice of service members on Memorial Day.

"Memorial Day I'm asking everybody take that one second to think about why you're jumping in that pool or lighting that grill," he said.

Strange has written a book about the loss of his son and his search for answers. A documentary called 'Extortion One-Seven' is also soon to be released. Charles has made it his mission to continue to speak about his son and other fallen service members... not just on Memorial Day but every day.

"(We) don't want our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters to be forgotten," he said.

To learn more about the Michael Strange Foundation, click here: https://michaelstrange.foundation/