TAPS — Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors
The national organization for anyone grieving a military or veteran death: peer mentors, seminars, a 24/7 helpline.
Grief Support Military & Veteran Loss
Grief Support for Military & Veteran Families
When a service member or veteran dies, the family's grief comes wrapped in things civilian support rarely understands: the folded flag, the casualty process, a community that may scatter with the next set of orders, and losses — combat, training, illness, suicide — each with their own weight.
TAPS exists for precisely this, and it is one of the best-built grief organizations in the country for any loss type. If a military death has touched your family, start there: the 24/7 helpline (800-959-8277) is answered by people who get it, and everything is free.
Verified Networks
Where the real support is
Every organization here is national, established, and built around this specific loss. Formats and costs are listed so you know before you click.
Gold Star Wives of America
Community and advocacy for surviving military spouses.
Before Your First Meeting
What these groups are actually like
TAPS pairs newly bereaved family members with trained peer mentors who carry a similar loss — a Gold Star mother mentors a Gold Star mother, a surviving spouse mentors a surviving spouse. Regional survivor seminars and Good Grief Camps for kids run all year, and the suicide-loss programs are military-specific.
Any relationship to the fallen counts: spouses, parents, siblings, children, battle buddies. There is no qualifying test and no rank at a TAPS event.
Finding one near you: beyond the networks above, your local hospice is required to offer bereavement support and most run free community grief groups — call and ask for the bereavement coordinator. More on that here.
Want this list in your inbox?
One email with every network on this page, plus a short guide to choosing a group. No newsletter, no follow-ups — just the list, to read when you’re ready.
Questions
What families ask
My loved one died by suicide after service. Does military grief support include us?
Fully. TAPS has one of the largest military suicide-loss programs in the country, built without stigma. Your family's loss is a military loss, and every TAPS resource is open to you.
We're not 'Gold Star' — my veteran died years after service. Do we belong?
Yes. TAPS serves anyone grieving a military or veteran death from any cause, whenever it comes. The veteran community's losses to illness, age, and suicide are inside the mission, not outside it.
Is there support for the children?
TAPS Good Grief Camps pair kids with military mentors and run alongside adult seminars. The children's grief centers on our children & teens page are also excellent, and many have military families in every cohort.
While You’re Here
Free tools, if they’d help
Made for the same reason this directory exists. No account, no charge.
Free toolWrite a Eulogy
If a service is coming and the blank page is heavy, this helps you shape what you want to say — step by step, in your words.
Free toolWaves of Grief
Map how your grief actually moves — the waves, not the stages. Many people bring their map to a first group meeting.
Free toolThe Memory Interview
Twelve questions that gather your memories of them into something you can keep — and share with family.
Other Losses
Loss of a Spouse or PartnerLoss of a ChildPregnancy & Infant LossPet LossSuicide LossChildren & TeensLoss of a Parent
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Service is a story worth telling in full
Some military families commission a painting that holds the whole person — the uniform and everything underneath it — as an original work built from their memories.