N A SERENE SETTING, WITH CASCADING MOUNTAINS AND SOFT LIGHT FILTERING THROUGH THE CLOUDS, a woman jumps from a plane 13,000 feet in the air. As she accelerates to- ward the ground, a panicked feeling of disorienta- tion begins to sink in. She tries to make sense of what is happening, but her vision is blurred. Suddenly, the parachute is pulled and she is lifted up. A peaceful still- ness immediately follows the chaos.  This isn’t the story of a woman who is skydiving for the fi rst time.


This is a transformational mo- ment one woman, who lost her husband in combat, experienced during a retreat she attended in Alaska through the Tragedy As- sistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) (www .taps.org). She later described her skydiving experience as fi nally under-


standing what her husband must have gone through. For more than two decades, Bonnie Carroll (pictured left), founder and president of TAPS, has been on a mission to empower oth- ers to fi nd hope and healing after losing a loved one who has served in the military. “We’ve created a network of


trained peer mentors who help each other understand that they’re not alone,” Carroll says. “This is refl ected everywhere in our organization, from our seminars and retreats to our online community.” TAPS provides a wide range of


Surviving children and their mentors play a board game during a Good Grief Camp in Arlington, Va., in May 2015.


52 MILITARY OFFICER MAY 2016


programs that off er both immedi- ate assistance as well as long-term emotional-healing opportunities to survivors. A 24/7 National Military Survivor Helpline, (800) 959-8277, supports people who are grieving and need someone to connect with. The organization also off ers case- work assistance for those struggling with the administrative and fi nancial diffi culties of losing their loved one. For surviving children, TAPS Good Grief Camps pair young survivors with active duty military mentors who


PHOTOS: PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS DANIEL HINTON, USN/DOD. PHOTOS FROM PREVIOUS PAGE: CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT, PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS DANIEL HINTON, USN/DOD; COURTESY TAPS


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