FORT RILEY -- Twelve Gold Star spouses saw Fort Riley and Manhattan, Kansas, from a new perspective May 7 while flying in two UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters.
April 5 was Gold Star Spouses' Day. It is a day to recognize and honor the spouses whose Soldiers lost their lives on active duty. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to create Gold Star Spouses' Day and it was first celebrated Dec. 18, 2010. Due to planning restrictions, Fort Riley hosted the recognition event May 7. This was the fifth year Fort Riley hosted an event.
Staff from Survivor Outreach Services hosted the Gold Star Spouses' Day event. It is a program developed to provide surviving family members of Soldiers with a community they could relate to and let them know they are still a part of the Army family.
"It was started because our families needed long-term support, they needed to still stay connected to the Army and that's exactly what this program does," said Christina Gary, survivor outreach specialist for Survivor Outreach Services. "We're here to keep those families connected because that's what they want. They want to feel like the Army still cares about them and they're not forgotten and that their Soldiers are not forgotten."
Before taking a helicopter tour, Chap (Maj.) Christian Goze offered words of support and comfort to the spouses about the hardships they have faced. Goze praised the close community they had formed together and the Survivor Outreach Services program, a sentiment shared among the spouses in attendance.
"It's great to be around people who are in the same situation," Kelsey Ablang, widow of Sgt. Edward Ablang, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 601st Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, said. "They know exactly what you're going through, so it's therapeutic. It's a community you didn't think you were ever going to join, but you're grateful you have this kind of sisterhood."
The helicopter tour provided spouses with insight into what some of their Soldiers did in the Army. For Melissa Jarboe, widow of Staff Sgt. Jamie Jarboe, 4th Squadron, 4th Calvary Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div., this was an experience she shared with her daughter, Celesteal Clark, 18, who accompanied her on the flight.
"This is something my husband did day in and day out," Jarboe said. "It was really nice to hear this is what your husband used to do, this is the helicopter. This is another keepsake I can hold onto and a memory I can make."
Gary said events such as the helicopter tour were important for the families of Soldiers who had passed. She emphasized these events should be celebrations and allow the spouses to be a part of the world and not trapped in sorrow.
"We want our spouses to have a life, we want them to move forward, we want them to be happy and this is just something that brings them closer together," Gary said.
All of the spouses in attendance were mothers. As they listened to Goze speak and went on the helicopter tour, the children worked on a special art project to give to their mothers as a gift for Mother's Day.
"These women, they don't have the spouse here to give them flowers or take them out to lunch," Gary said. "Their kids will be able to give them something that they made and it brings our kids closer together."
The time spent painting and drawing provided the kids an opportunity to bond and connect with one another. This event gave them an outlet and community as well, Gary said.
Following the helicopter tour, the spouses had dinner with Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., 1st Inf. Div. and commanding general Fort Riley
During Goze's speech and the tour, Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, 1st Inf. Div. deputy commanding general for support, 1st Infantry Division, accompanied the spouses and offered his own words of support and unity to them.
"Whether you're a 1st Infantry Division spouse, a Fort Riley spouse or an Army spouse -- any installation, any division -- we consider you part of our team here at Fort Riley and the 1st Infantry Division," Frank said.
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