A group of women from around the U.S. got together last week for a special trip along the Salmon River. They were the survivors of fallen military service members who came together to learn how to cope with the loss of their loved ones.
The trip is the brainchild of the Travis Manion Foundation. It is a non-profit group that helps veterans and families of the fallen. The foundation has led expeditions all over the country for spouses and fiancées of military members.
“The goal is to give survivors tools to develop resiliency,” says Amy Looney, Director of Survivor Services. “Building these relationships, working with other survivors who have been through and shared similar experiences, that not many people can understand or compare to, is really helpful and healing.”
Looney led the eight women, all fiancées and spouses of fallen military members, as they traveled down 80 miles of the main Salmon River. The group faced physical challenges on the trip, along with a service project, where the women worked to clean up the Campbell’s Ferry Historical Homestead site - trimming brush and working to protect the property from wildfires.
“We’re really pushing each other to live a life and honor our loved ones the way that they would live their life if they were here.”
Looney also lost her husband, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2010. They were college sweethearts.
“It’s been challenging and I think I found a little bit of peace in working with other survivors and finding a way to give back and carry on his legacy and do things that make people still remember him and others who have really sacrificed so much.”
The Foundation is planning a teen expedition at the Delaware Water Gap next week for surviving children of fallen service members.
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