I met Gold Star Mother Melinda Kane on Wednesday night, when I was interviewing female delegates on the prominence of women’s issues at the convention. I was surprised to discover that Melinda was a special guest at the DNC, asked by the Obama campaign to be a part of a video on military families, which will be shown on Thursday night.
Melinda’s son, LCPL Jeremy Kane of the U.S. Marine Corps, was killed in action in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in January of 2010. In the three years since his death, Melinda has taken on a life she never expected.
“I always looked at myself as being the mother of three sons,” she told me. “Suddenly, I have two sons and a hero.”
Melinda was kind enough to speak with me Wednesday evening, before she was to meet Michelle Obama in her exclusive box in the convention hall. Check out the video above for our full conversation about her son, her new life as an advocate for military families, and how she got to Charlotte.