More than 400 surviving family members will attend football games and other activities with the Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers this weekend, as the NFL honors the fallen service members.
Players will wear the initials of a fallen service member on their helmets and will meet with the family members of the service member they honor.
During the weekend, families will attend Salute to Service activities, offering opportunities for families to connect with one another. They’ll attend practice, meet players, get helmets signed, and attend pre-game ceremonies as well as the games.
Honoring the fallen and recognizing their family service members in this way began with the Carolina Panthers in 2015, said Bonnie Carroll, president and founder of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS.
“For the families who have lost loved ones in the military, the NFL has offered extraordinary experiences on the field where families have honored their fallen heroes and cheered on their favorite teams,” Carroll said.
TAPS is a national organization providing compassionate care for the families of fallen service members. It has offered support in a variety of ways to more than 70,000 surviving family members since 1994.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
