When the worst happens, there are those who help put lives back together.
Hopes and prayers surround the deployed, but still beloved warriors are lost. The hearts of survivors are shocked and hurt beyond understanding. It is difficult to work through the daze and pain to get anything accomplished in order to carry on.

Survivor Outreach Services (SOS) and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) are immediate sources for assistance to the bereaved. Luann Brooks is the JBLM Program Support Coordinator for northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. JBLM SOS offices are located at the Family Resource Center, Bldg 4274, 9th Division and Idaho. Brooks states, "Our goal is to embrace survivors and make them feel they're not forgotten. We help connect them to their entitled services."

SOS works closely with the Casualty Assistance Center's (CAO) team and is the long term case management for survivors. Over the years, SOS updates survivors on legislation and connects them with other survivors. "It is important to remind them that their loved ones' sacrifices were not in vain," says Brooks.

A survivor is anyone affected by a military casualty. SOS provides services for spouses and children, single soldiers' parents and siblings, soldiers and airmen on tour with the fallen, their families and friends, WWII veterans' spouses, Army and Air Force Reserve, active duty soldiers and airmen, retired, National Guard, and civilian survivors.

Brooks states, "It is an honor to serve family members whose soldiers gave the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom."

TAPS (www.taps.org), offers 24/7 support. On March 26, volunteers - some survivors themselves, other soldiers - working with TAPS pros and Dr. Sims, complete training for the March 27 TAPS JBLM Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp.

North Fort Chapel hosts the camp. The TAPS Web site provides registration and information. On Saturday, spouses pair to spouses, sibling to sibling, and parent to parent. Survivor children divide into age groups, buddy-up with soldiers, climb on fire trucks, try on assorted gear and ride in humvees. They learn coping skills and play together. At noon, red, white, and blue balloons - each tied with a child's note to the lost parent - are released to heaven. Brooks states, "It is one of the most healing times for children and every participant."

SOS has monthly outreach events: March hosts the TAPS event; April a teens' skating party; survivor, support, and ice skater socials.

Survivor children - identified through Washington D.C.'s Commission of Remembrance - who lost their parent during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom are honored by a special gold medal presented yearly by the garrison.

SOS gives Patches Bears, complete with 8 face buttons, to survivor children. (www.patcheskids.org/). When a child puts a face into a pocket, parents and counselors understand what the child feels. One of Brooks' best days was giving a bear to a troubled child who smiled for the first time and began talking.

SOS supplied turkeys for survivors to connect with them during the holidays. Brooks said one father stated, "Makes me feel like the army has not forgotten me; that my son had not died for no reason."

In closing, Brooks said, "Every time I can listen to a survivor and show that somebody cares, that no one is ever alone or forgotten, that is a good day."