A South Korean newspaper reports Thursday that the Pyongyang government executed several North Korean senior officers by firing squad earlier this year for “drinking liquor during the mourning period [following the death of leader Kim Jong-il] or being involved in sex scandals.”
Note that “or.” Apparently, alcohol and adultery …
This one-time military mom enjoyed last week’s Battleland Q&A with the authors of a new series of books on educating troops’ children.
Military children have always had to deal with the stressors of being the new kid on the …
As I type this I am sitting in the San Diego airport preparing to head home to Dallas. The TAPS weekend seminar is over and I am filled with a powerful sense of faith.
I am not sure what I was hoping to get from this weekend, …
One of the things I heard early on at TAPS, as well as from my counselor at home, is the importance of self-care.
I’m a mother of three young children. Whenever this term “self-care” is thrown around in my presence I …
It was nine years ago — Columbus Day, 2003 — that the first significant story on the suicides of the post-9/11 wars appeared above the fold in USA Today. Reporter Gregg Zoroya had called me that summer, when I was doing a …
Today, I am tired of suicide.
I ache in my bones and muscles and soul for all the suffering that continues to occur.
I am tired of learning about people who reached out for help, sometimes screaming for help, and they were …
Saturday night was our “family dinner” at our suicide-survivors’ conference in San Diego.TAPS provided us with fried chicken (I was one happy Texan!) and several other comfort foods.
Shannon, Tim and John.
These names, prior to our trip to the TAPS National Military Survivors Seminar in Washington, D.C., in May were not names I heard spoken in our home. Now, they receive nearly daily mentions and are …
Thursday morning I bounced out of bed early and yelled “Oh my gosh!”
I never get up on time and certainly never bounce. But this morning I knew that I would be headed to California for the TAPS seminar.
I went to work — my …
As I lay out the clothes and review the checklist for our trip Friday, I can’t help but reflect on what TAPS — Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors — means to me and my children.
Not everyone finds TAPS right …
This weekend, relatives of many of the U.S. troops who have killed themselves in the suicide epidemic gripping the American military are gathering in San Diego. They’re coming together to support one another and figure out how to move on with life. It’s the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors’ National Military Suicide Survivor …
I just returned home from my third trip to Fort Bliss in two months. I made the first two trips so that I could learn about the installation and the leadership’s approach to preventing soldier suicide. On this most recent visit …
