Personnel Support Division
Field Support (PSC-PSD-FS)
Gold Star Program
The Coast Guard Gold Star Program is the Coast Guard's official program for providing long-term support to surviving families of Coast Guard members who die while Active Duty.
If you are visiting this page because you are a surviving family member of a deceased service member, please accept our most heartfelt sympathy and gratitude for your loved one's service and sacrifice. The Coast Guard wants you to know how important you are as a part of the extended Coast Guard family. Your loved one is not forgotten, and neither are you.
The USCG Gold Star Program is our way of building a survivor community. We have a growing mailing and communications list for news and invitations, planned get-togethers and events, and services available to Gold Star survivors, such as issuance of Gold Star and Next of Kin Lapel Pins, DHS Honorable Service certificates, and assistance obtaining loved ones' casualty forms and other official military documentation to assist with ongoing VA benefits or answer outstanding questions.
The Gold Star Program ensures that surviving families of deceased service members are not forgotten and remain part of the Coast Guard family for as long as they desire. Survivors tell us that one of the greatest challenges they face in their grief journey is rebuilding resiliency as they transition to their new normal. A huge help in the resiliency building process for survivors is the reassurance that their loved one will never be forgotten and that they still can maintain their link to the Coast Guard culture.
It is our honor to serve you through the Coast Guard Gold Star Program. We know that you still grieve the loss of your loved one, and we will never seek to minimize or forget that fact, but rather to help you through the unplanned changes and transition you find thrust upon you. Your loved one is a member of our honored Long Blue Line, whose legacy contributes to what the Coast Guard is today. That will never change.
Eligibility
Personnel eligible to participate in the Gold Star Program include the widow, parents and the next of kin. The term "widow" includes widower; the term "parents" include mother, father, stepmother, stepfather, mother through adoption, father through adoption, and foster parents who stood in loco parentis; the term "next of kin" only includes children, brothers, sisters, half-brothers, and half-sisters; and the term "children" includes stepchildren and children through adoption.
The Gold Star Program does not provide or grant authorization to Survivors for additional benefits/privileges beyond what the Survivor was entitled to prior to the death of the service member.
For more information on Gold Star Pins, Visit: http://www.goldstarpins.org/
Program Contact Information
To receive information on the Gold Star program please email or call the Chief, Casualty Matters:
202-795-6647 (office)
571-266-2375 (casualty duty cell)
HQS-SMB-GOLDSTAR@uscg.mil
Gold Star Advocate
The National Defense Authorization Act 2014, Section 633, requires each secretary of a military department to designate a specific member to assist spouses and other dependents of service members, including Reserve Component, who die on Active Duty.
These survivor advocates are available to provide support and address issues or concerns by spouses and other dependents of deceased service members regarding casualty assistance or receipt of benefits authorized by law.
The Chief, Casualty Matters, is the US Coast Guard Gold Star Advocate.
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Mailing Address:
COMMANDER
PERSONNEL SERVICE CENTER ATTN: PSC-PSD-FS
US COAST GUARD STOP 7200
2703 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR AVE SE
WASHINGTON DC 20593-7200