Editor's note: This post is part of a series by Dr. Baker on Our Values about core American values. In light of Mother's Day this coming Sunday, Dr. Baker is taking this week to discuss the challenges of motherhood in America.

Can we connect the dots?

Does the death of Osama bin Laden bring closure to mothers who lost their sons and daughters?

Did you know that our current Mother’s Day was born in the aftermath of war?

Its origin goes back to the Civil War. Mothers from the Confederacy and the Union who had lost sons reached out across the great divide, meeting to console and reconcile. Julia Ward Howe, the woman who wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” ended the Civil War as a devout pacifist. Her 1870 “Mother’s Day Proclamation” included the impassioned line: “Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”

This year, we have the 10th anniversary of “9/11” looming and, at Mother’s Day, we have breaking news about the death of Osama bin Laden after a 10-year manhunt to kill or apprehend the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

More than 3,000 people died in the attacks. In the 10 years since, many thousands more were killed or wounded in the War on Terror. The number is astronomically higher when we factor in Iraqi, Afghan, and other enemy combatant and civilian casualties.

The news of bin Laden’s death brought a mix of emotions — elation, joy, pride, reflection, and sorrow. Has it brought closure to Moms, Dads, brothers, sisters, and other family and friends whose loved ones were killed or severely wounded?

It hasn’t brought closure to the mother of the first solider from Washtenaw County (Michigan) to die in the conflicts after 9/11, according to annArbor.com.

Darcy Monier’s son, Donald, died from a roadside bomb in Iraq. “I don’t know if we’ll ever get closure,” Darcy told annArbor.com. “It’s been almost seven years since my son was killed, and our lives have changed lot in that seven years. But it doesn’t stop us from missing him every day,” she said.

Other stories in the news carry a similar theme, told by mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and more.

But while bin Laden's death may not have brought the anticipated closure for families whose loved ones were killed post 9/11, there may be hope for families whose loved ones were injured.

There’s a newly recognized category of people who serve the nation: the family caregivers of post 9/11 veterans seriously injured in combat. Many of these caregivers — who often give up their careers to provide full-time care — are moms.

Now there’s more real support for these caregivers. Timed for Mother’s Day, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs just posted an interim final rule that allows the department to provide enhanced services to moms and other family members who take care of injured vets at home.

These services include monetary payments, health insurance, expanded training, and more. The expanded services are added to the services the VA already provides to vets.

An “interim final rule” is stronger than the label may suggest. It has the full force and effect of law. We’re now in a comment period, and the VA may take these comments into account and revise the rule. But there’s no going back. The rule is law.

“We at VA know that every day is a challenge for our most seriously injured veterans and their family caregivers,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki in a press release.

“I know many Veterans and their Family Caregivers have been waiting anxiously for this day and I urge them to get their applications in as soon as possible so they can receive the additional support they have earned.”

Eligible veterans are those who have been seriously injured in combat since 9/11. The list of serious injuries includes traumatic brain injury, psychological trauma and other mental disorders.
Here is where you can learn more and apply:

This VA website report includes a link to begin downloading the application on May 9. And, for more information, here’s another story about the new program.

The VA says the new rule ushers in a “new era” in the provision of enhanced services for family caregivers.

Do you know someone killed or wounded as a result of “9/11”?
What do you think of the new rule?
Is it enough?
Does bin Laden’s death bring closure for you?
Does the timing of his death and Mother’s Day seem significant?

Dr. Wayne E. Baker is a sociologist on the faculty of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Baker blogs daily at Our Values and can be reached at ourvaluesproject@gmail.com or on Facebook.