TAPS to Participate in Library of Congress Gold Star Legacy Panel

Bonnie Carroll, TAPS President and Founder, To Join Special Panel to Discuss How America Honors Fallen Military Heroes and Their Families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 18, 2018

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) will be represented on a panel discussion hosted by the Library of Congress on Tuesday, September 25 to discuss Gold Star families and how we honor the legacies of fallen loved ones who died in service to our country.

Bonnie Carroll, TAPS President and Founder, was invited to serve as one of five panelists on the “Gold Star Legacy” panel at the Whittall Pavilion of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. The Library’s Veterans History Project is hosting this panel to commemorate National Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, traditionally celebrated on the final Sunday of September.

The panel will focus on the various ways individuals, families, communities and the nation can remember and pay tribute to fallen heroes while honoring their families. Panelists will discuss the significance of “Gold Star,” benefits provided to Gold Star families and the effectiveness of peer support programs such as those offered through TAPS.

Mort Dean, former CBS and ABC news anchor, will moderate the event. Fellow panelists will include Becky Christmas, President of Gold Star Mothers of America; Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, IV, USA (Ret.), President of the Georgia Military College; Dale Egan, Hershel “Woody” Williams Medal of Honor Foundation Vice President; and Jenine Melton, U.S. Army veteran and Gold Star sibling.

“We are delighted to join the Library of Congress in acknowledging the tremendous sacrifice of our Gold Star families,” Ms. Carroll said. “It is especially fitting that we honor these brave families during the final week of September – recently designated by the U.S. Senate (S.Res.522) as Gold Star Families Remembrance Week. We applaud Congress for expanding our national commemoration of Gold Star families to a full week, and for ensuring the sacrifice of all families who lost a loved one in military service to the United States is honored.”

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ABOUT TAPS

The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is the leading national organization providing compassionate care and survivor support services for the families of America’s fallen military heroes. Since 1994, TAPS has offered support to more than 80,000 survivors of fallen military in the form of peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, grief seminars and retreats for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, case work assistance, connections to community-based care, online and in-person support groups and a 24/7 resource and information helpline for all who have been affected by a death in the Armed Forces. Services are provided free of charge. For more information go to www.taps.org or call the toll-free TAPS resource and information helpline at 1.800.959.TAPS (8277).