Baby Mikey Ferschke and his mother need YOUR help

A Marine's Japanese widow is fighting to raise her son in the nation her husband died protecting. Hotaru Ferschke and Sgt. Michael Ferschke had a proxy wedding, filing marriage papers after he deployed. He was killed in Iraq. Now U.S. immigration refuses to acknowledge the marriage. Here, Hotaru Ferschke stands with her mother-in-law, Robin Ferschke, and son Mikey. (source)

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Robert Stokely, Gold Star Father, and my friend, sent out the following email to a few of us the other day:

I can not add to what this story says except to say where I come from you don't mess with our women and you don't mess with our children. How can our government possibly, even remotely, do this. We must fight, and I mean literally fight if need be, for this wife and child, for a Hero died to give us not only the right, but the duty to do so. My boy was a CAV Scout; my great great grandaddy was a cavalryman himself. I am not. But, I can yell charge and will fight. CHARGE!!!! Join me. Robert Stokely proud dad SGT Mike Stokely KIA 16 AUG 05 near Yusufiyah Iraq USA E 108 CAV 48th BCT GAARNG

And I am joining this fight. Others have already. Over at BlackFive, they have the story up, with information on who to contact, and how we need to resolve this issue.

Time to Mobilize - Widow and Child of Fallen Marine may be deported

Posted By Blackfive A Marine's Japanese widow is fighting to raise her son in the nation her husband died protecting. Hotaru Ferschke and Sgt. Michael Ferschke had a proxy wedding, filing marriage papers after he deployed. He was killed in Iraq. Now U.S. immigration refuses to acknowledge the marriage....

I understand that Hotaru is stuck in legal limbo because of some anachronistic laws on the US books to do with proxy wives. That law was designed to weed out marriages of convenience for those who married just to gain US citizenship. That is NOT the case for Hotaru. From all I have read, Hotaru and her husband, Sgt. Michael Ferschke, were living together, were a partnership in every sense of the word, for a year or more in Japan, where they met. And oh yes, they obviously consumated the marriage. Mikey is proof of that. Take a look at this: More...

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