Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors

Other

August 01, 2016

Each issue in this section, the editorial staff of Military Embedded Systems will highlight a different charity that benefits military veterans and their families. We are honored to cover the technology that protects those who protect us every day. To back that up, our parent company – OpenSystems Media – will make a donation to every charity we showcase on this page.

This issue we are featuring the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that helps those who are grieving the death of a military service member. It provides a national peer-support network and connection to grief resources at no cost to surviving family members and loved ones.

The idea for TAPS arose in 1992, when eight soldiers were killed in a C-12 plane crash in Alaska; among the grieving family members was Bonnie Carroll, a retired Air Force reserve major and the widow of Army Brigadier General Tom Carroll. Ms. Carroll founded TAPS in 1994, after conducting two years of research examining the resources available to support bereaved military families and benchmarking best practices at other peer-based support organizations. The peer-support network offered at TAPS is the heart of the organization and represents the recognition of the connections made when communicating with those that have shared the same experiences.

Since its inception, says the organization, TAPS has assisted more than 60,000 surviving family members, casualty officers, and caregivers. It holds annual national and regional Military Survivor Seminars and sponsors Good Grief camps and campouts for children at locations across the country. The 24/7 Resource Line is staffed day and night to offer help and compassion to those grieving fallen military members, while survivors can avail themselves of published resource guides and the quarterly TAPS Magazine.

For more information, visit: http://www.taps.org.