Military Bereavement Study on Grief Covers All Causes

Military families in largest ever bereavement study share insights on grief
Stars and Stripes
By DAVID CRARY
The Associated Press
Published: January 4, 2015

"Regardless of how the person died, at some point in their life they stepped forward to raise their right hand and say `I will protect this nation"

This Dec. 16, 2014 photo shows the wedding photo of Army widow, Aimee Wriglesworth, and her late husband, Chad, on display in her home in Bristow, Va. The couple married when Chad was in the Air Force; he later transferred to the Army, where he rose to the rank of Major. Wriglesworth lost her husband to cancer in 2013. By the hundreds, other widows, widowers, parents, siblings and children are sharing accounts of their grief as part of the largest study ever of America's military families as they go through bereavement.
STEVE HELBER/AP

With his wife and child close at hand, Army Maj. Chad Wriglesworth battled skin cancer for more than a year before dying at age 37.

"It was long and painful and awful," said Aimee Wriglesworth, who believes the cancer resulted from exposure to toxic fumes in Iraq. Yet the 28-year-old widow from Bristow, Virginia, seized a chance to recount the ordeal and its aftermath to a researcher, hoping that input from her and her 6-year-old daughter might be useful to other grieving military families.

"To be able to study what we felt and what we're going through - maybe this will help people down the line," Wriglesworth said.

By the hundreds, other widows, widowers, parents, siblings and children are sharing accounts of their grief as part of the largest study ever of America's military families as they go through bereavement. About 2,000 people have participated over the past three years, and one-on-one interviews will continue through February.

The federally funded project is being conducted by the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Maryland-based Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. The study is open to families of the more than 19,000 service members from all branches of the military who have died on active duty since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, regardless of whether the death resulted from combat, accident, illness, suicide or other causes.

Of all the active-duty deaths in the period being studied, about 13 percent were suicides. Accidents accounted for 35 percent, combat 30 percent, illness 15 percent and homicide 3 percent, according to Cozza.

One of the major partners for the study is the Arlington, Virginia-based support group known as TAPS - the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. It was founded in 1994 by Bonnie Carroll two years after her husband, a brigadier general, died in an Army plane crash.

Carroll said she was heartened that the study encompassed all types of deaths, even including service members responsible for murder-suicides.

"Regardless of how the person died, at some point in their life they stepped forward to raise their right hand and say `I will protect this nation,'" Carroll said.
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Jacksonville families discuss end of life care for veterans

Locals discuss end of life considerations for vets
By THOMAS BRENNAN
Daily News Staff
Published: Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce hosted the 20th annual Living with Grief program this week, presenting information to local veterans, medical providers and caregivers.

“It’s for community education and so people can understand the different issues surrounding the end of life,” said Joanne Ciampi, the hospice volunteer coordinator for Continuum Home Care and Hospice. “Each year the hospice has a different topic discussed, and this year its veterans. That’s important because military experience shapes their lives and affects how they approach healthcare and end of life matters.”

Wednesday’s event, which was sponsored by the Hospice Foundation of America, featured an informational DVD of panelists who discussed the military mindset, special needs in treating veterans at the end of life, ritual and bereavement care and forming collaborative partnerships to better serve veterans.
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A Soldier’s Requiem, Never Fading Away

A Soldier’s Requiem, Never Fading Away
New York Times
By JAMES DAO
Published: January 12, 2013

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Each December, Jackie Finken pulls plastic bins from the basement and distributes carefully wrapped Christmas decorations to her three daughters. Each girl has her own ornaments. And each of those ornaments has a story. That is a Finken tradition, one of many.

So there Mrs. Finken was on her kitchen floor a few weeks back, telling tales. About the treble clef that she and her husband, Paul, gave Emilie, the cheerful eldest, when she started loving her violin. About the Cinderella they gave to Caroline, the cranky middle one, when Disney princesses were all the rage. About the mouse they gave to Julia, the mischievous youngest, the year a brigade of vermin feasted on her candy stash.

Suddenly Julia stopped to ponder a decoration adorned with a tiny soccer ball, baseball mitt and football. It belonged to her father, the coach. “Should I hang this one?” she asked her mother. The answer, of course, was “Of course.”
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The Physical Aspects of Loss

The Physical Aspects of Loss
July 15, 2009 by

By Kirsti A. Dyer MD, MS, FT –

People experience many losses in their lifetime. The most common loss is the death of a loved one, but people experience other losses e.g. loss of a relationship, loss of a job or loss of health. Most of these losses result in some type of a grief response. Grief is the entire body’s response to the loss–mind, body and spirit.

A person grieving a loss may feel grief in many different ways–physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially and intellectually. He or she may experience a variety of body complaints that include:

Fatigue

Problems sleeping (insomnia)
General aches and pain
Backaches
Stomach pains
Intestinal symptoms (diarrhea, constipation, pain, discomfort)
Chest Pressure
Palpitations
Panic Attacks
Increased Anxiety
Many of these physical complaints are potentially serious and require a medical evaluation to exclude a serious medical disorders before determining that the symptoms are due to grief.
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the physical aspects of loss Open to Hope Foundation

TAPS announces training for working with bereaved

TAPS ANNOUNCES TRAINING FOR SOCIAL WORKERS, NURSES, CHAPLAINS, CASUALTY OFFICERS, FAMILY PROGRAM STAFF, COUNSELORS, MFLCs, and MILITARY LEADERSHIP www.taps.org/professionaleducation

TAPS provides peer based emotional support for military surviving families. Part of our mission is to improve the training and continuing education for health and mental healthcare professionals dealing with children and families who suffer from traumatic grief. We are proud to announce quarterly educational training WEBINARS with a special focus on working with military surviving families and veterans.

On December 4, 2008, TAPS will conduct training on "Working with the Bereaved: Suicide Risk Assessment." This Webinar features expert speaker Dr. David Jobes (see attached flyer for more info). The training is accredited for 1.0 CEUs for Nurses and Social Workers and has been approved by NASW.

Please share this information with staff, colleagues and chapter members. We are making our best effort to reach out to those partnering organizations who are interested in helping the families of the Fallen and returning veterans and asking their help in disseminating this information. Thank you for spreading the word!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Jill Harrington LaMorie, jill@taps.org.

For more information and to register, please visit our website: www.taps.org/professionaleducation.

Thank you for your help!

Bonnie

Bonnie Carroll
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors
910 17th Street, NW Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006
www.taps.org
Office: 202.588.TAPS (8277)
Toll-Free: 800.959.TAPS (8277)
FAX: 202-457-8278
bonnie@taps.org

'I lost all my friends,' says helicopter crash survivor

'I lost all my friends,' says helicopter crash survivor
By Times staff writers 12:17 p.m.
Amid a somber mood, firefighters press on against Shasta-Trinity fire after 9 are believed to have been killed. Witnesses are debriefed and grief counseling is made available.

By Maria LaGanga, Joe Mozingo and Julie Cart, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
12:17 PM PDT, August 7, 2008
JUNCTION CITY, Calif. - Firefighters continued battling fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest today as federal officials began arriving to investigate the cause of a deadly helicopter crash and grief counselors descended on the base camp here to debrief witnesses and offer aid to crew members.

It was a somber day in the Trinity Alps. At an early morning briefing for firefighters, Jeff Currier, a member of the air support group, told the assembled crowd that when "it feels like you've been kicked in the head . . . you have to move on. We'll be 100% on the move."


Mike Donch, a human resources specialist with the firefighting effort, said that two "critical incident management teams" are arriving today to begin debriefing crew members who witnessed Tuesday's helicopter crash that was believed to have killed nine people and injured four. Grief counseling would also be available for any firefighters who need it, he said.
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