TRENTON, N.J. (PIX11) -- It's a title no mother wants to wear: Gold Star.
"When we lost Anthony in 2018, as you can imagine, it was gut-wrenching," said Irma Collins of West Deptford.
Collins lost her son, Anthony Dillard, an Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class in the Navy. After losing him, she wanted to be close with the children he left behind - her grandchildren. But there was a problem:
"I am not able to see them as much as I would like to," said Collins.
Grandparents don't have the automatic right to visit their grandchildren. Collins says that for her and other gold star mothers, their grandchildren are the last connection they have to the child they lost.
"You're suffering a second loss which is additional trauma that is being brought about," said Collins, "that grief that you