FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- "It's kind of like a community that we don't want to belong to, but we do belong to," said Tammy Stansbery.
The community to which Stansbery is referring is military survivors -- the Family and friends that service members leave behind when they are killed in combat or die while in active-duty status. These Family members are also known as Gold Star Families. To recognize these individuals, Fort Campbell Survivor Outreach Services is hosting Military Survivor Appreciation Week. The event formerly known as Gold Star Family Appreciation Week is held traditionally during the last week of October. Events ranging from installation tours, to a dance and special memorial events bring survivors together to share their experience and receive support from SOS staff.
Boot Display
A new event this year is the Hero and Remembrance Run, Walk or Roll, which will be held Oct. 25. The 5K and one-mile fun run will begin at Town Center Park, directly across from Division Headquarters on Indiana Avenue.
Participants can begin arriving at 7 a.m., with opening ceremonies beginning at 8. Anyone within the Fort Campbell community is encouraged to participate in the event meant to honor fallen service members.
As a part of the Hero and Remembrance Run, Walk or Roll, Fort Campbell Survivor Outreach Services spearheaded an effort to collect nearly 7,000 military boots to line the route.
Each boot with accompanying tag and photo, lists the name of every service member killed in action since Sept. 11, 2001.
Prior to Saturday's race, the boots are being displayed in a stunning arrangement on the lawn of 101st Airborne Division headquarters. After a months-long effort to collect used boots from near and far, SOS staff reached their goal late Tuesday.
About 1,000 boots came in during the week prior to the run.
"We're extremely excited," said SOS Financial Counselor Loreta Guzman of meeting the boot drive goal. "We wanted every single one of them to be represented."
As of Wednesday afternoon, officials estimated more than 2,000 people visited the boot display at Division Headquarters, Army Community Service employee Becki Mastrian said. Volunteers put in more than 900 hours collecting, assembling and displaying the boots, she added.
Soldiers, Family members and civilians filtered onto the Division Headquarters to see the display, which will remain there through Friday. The boots will then be moved to line the 5K route. Sgt. Crystal Scott, A Company, 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, came out Wednesday afternoon to say goodbye to Louisiana National Guard Sgt. Jordan Tuttle, who died July 2, 2010 as the result of injuries from a non-combat incident in Baghdad, Iraq.
Scott served with Tuttle in Iraq in 2008. It was his first deployment to Iraq.
"I was never able to be at his funeral, and I've always wanted to go see him since it happened," Scott said. "In the four years I've been stationed here, I've never seen anything like this."
Once finding the boot with Tuttle's tag, Scott sat on her knees in a moment of silence amidst what she called a surreal and heartbreaking display. She snapped photos with her phone and sent them to Tuttle's sister, Clara.
"He was deployed with his twin sister at the time," Scott recalled. "She's still serving. He deployed because of her. He didn't want her to go by herself."
Families Reflect
As one of the first activities of Military Survivor Appreciation Week, dozens Gold Star mothers and wives, as well as other Family members, friends and unit members, gathered for a chance to personalize their Soldier's boot, Monday. Many Family members of Soldiers who passed outside of a combat situation also gathered to decorate boots. Candice McCabe, who lives in Spring Hill, Tenn., drove up with her two children, Aliza, 5, and Thomas, 2. The Family passed around a tan combat boot and a black sharpie, writing notes of love and drawing pictures of their beloved husband and father, Sgt. Bryan McCabe. McCabe passed away in garrison, Aug. 11, 2013, four months after being stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He was serving with A Company, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 25th Infantry Division.
"It gives us an opportunity to heal more by remembering him and kind of reminding the kids about him by doing this," Candice said. "… I just remember how much he loved the Army and how hard he worked for the Army and that he would do anything for his Soldiers."
Stansbery, a Gold Star mother, lost her only son, Spc. Michael Stansbery Jr., when his dismounted patrol encountered an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, July 30, 2010. The specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Abn. Div., deployed shortly after arriving at Fort Campbell in April 2010 after transferring from Fort Carson, Colo., to be closer to his Family.
"That's all he ever wanted to do was join the Army," Stansbery said, from Mount Juliet, Tenn. "He joined right after high school."
Stansbery said the week's events were some of the first she has attended since the initial period after Michael's death. She is very appreciative of the installation's SOS staff and the opportunity to connect with other Families.
"I haven't been strong enough. Now I'm strong enough," Stansbery said. "I can talk about it."
Stansbery made sure that her son's boot reflected not only his love for the U.S. military, but his other passions as well. Several trinkets adorned the boot -- ranging from a Disney keychain to a seashell and old photos. The boot reflects the Family's love for Florida State University football and amusement parks, among other interests.
"I wanted people to know that Michael was more than just a Soldier," Stansbery said of the effort put into the decorations. "… He was a very thoughtful, giving kid."
This thoughtfulness extended to his time in the service, where he would ask for items in care packages from home specifically to be given to other Soldiers in his unit.
"We're just super proud," Stansbery said.
Beautiful Release
A butterfly release, Wednesday afternoon, allowed Gold Star children of any age to participate. Children released Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies on the Parrish House lawn.
The Parrish House, near Gate 4 behind Marshall Elementary, serves as the newest home of SOS. Former 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell commander, then-Maj. Gen. James C. McConville, gifted the historic home that housed the post's commanding generals for use by SOS. Fort Campbell Survivor Outreach Services new office location will be dedicated in a ceremony Friday at 9 a.m.
The butterfly release marked a poignant moment for Cindy Stonebreaker, whose father went missing in Vietnam in 1968. Over the years, butterflies have become symbolic of her personal journey as a daughter of a missing in action service member.
"October 28 marks 46 years my father has been missing in Vietnam," she said. "Growing up, we didn't have access to facilities like this. I grew up feeling alone, isolated and abandoned. I did not have the opportunity to meet with other Families and other children to share my thoughts, my sorrow, my pain and the memory of my father. We are so blessed to have an opportunity to be able to gather together and share our memories of our heroes."
For 5-year-old Juan Riveadeneira, his favorite part of the release was "that it got on me," he said with a smile. Although Juan is too young to remember much of the time he had with the father he is named after, his mother Melissa Riveadeneira makes time to talk to him about the importance of these events.
"He knows that his father is in heaven," Melissa said. "He knows that he got hurt."
Staff Sgt. Juan Rivadeneira died Nov. 13, 2010 in Afghanistan while deployed with 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Abn. Div.
"When events like this take place, I try to make sure he knows where we're going and what we're doing," Melissa said.
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