I have never heard that gold stars represent death and we have been a military family and lived in 8 states in all four corners of the US. I wonder what those 5 star generals think of that! Not saying it isn't so, just that hadn't heard of it.
Someone mentioned vertical slashes. It would be easy to overdue additions -- I have a tendency to do that when I'm striving for something to make things just right. However, that being said, you could switch this to a modern quilt with an unbalance of two stripes on one side, maybe red or white, and one on the opposite side. I see nothing wrong with the inspiration you had -- admire your initiative to just recut and go. Keep up the good work!