By Joseph Andrew Lee

Like every Saturday morning, Kathy Smith expected a phone call from her son.

But on that Saturday, the call was from someone else.

“Corey Jon Smith, what did you do? Oh my God kid! What did you do?” she recalls shouting from her bathroom before gathering the family at her son Travis’ house to share the tragic news.

Their beloved Corey, her youngest child who had struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder for years after serving in Iraq, had committed suicide at his home in Anchorage, Alaska. The Army veteran was close to earning a psychology degree that he would have used to help others facing similar problems.

Corey Smith deployed to Iraq in 2006. The Army veteran struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder for years before he committed suicide in his Anchorage, Alaska, home in 2012. | Photo credit Courtesy photo

“You know what, God,” she recalled saying, “I absolutely do not agree with this plan. I don’t like this plan and I don’t agree with it. But I believe in you and I trust you, and I’m trusting that you’re going to take care of us now, because we have to get to Anchorage.”

Kathy said the family had spent the last of its savings on her nursing school tuition and was trying to figure out how to get gas and food for the week. There were no funds to get to Anchorage.

“When TAPS stepped into the picture with the USO, they covered all of those areas,” she said. “They answered our prayers to a ‘T.’ There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t think of the people at TAPS and the USO.”

On December 29, 2012, TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) received a call from a friend who lived near the Smith family in Big Lake, Minnesota, explaining the Smiths’ need to get to Anchorage quickly to comfort their daughter-in-law and 3-year-old granddaughter.

TAPS moved quickly to get the family to Alaska. The only available flight plan included an overnight layover in Seattle, which meant asking the USO to act as a concierge for the family. Within days, the Smiths were on their way, arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport just as the ball was dropping to start 2013 in New York City.

“We were so exhausted,” Tim Smith said. “In a situation like that, you wouldn’t know what you want if you wanted it, your brain is so scrambled and confused—kind of just hanging in limbo.”

USO Sea-Tac Director Bill Baker greeted them and guided them to the USO, where they stayed until their 6 a.m. flight.

Tim Smith talks about his son Corey’s death during a video interview with the USO in April. | Photo credit USO photo by Joseph Andrew Lee

“It was a heartbreaking week to say the least,” Baker said. “My volunteers did an amazing job taking care of them and made them feel so comfortable and welcome. … They asked if they could stay in the USO instead of a hotel so they could be closer to military troops.”

With an early flight and Kathy nursing a broken foot from dropping her laptop bag on it that day, they decided staying at the USO was the best decision.

“I remember we went to bed at about 1:30 or 2 a.m. but the gentleman on duty at the USO said he had an alarm set for us, and that he and another woman would be up all night to look over us,” Kathy said. “I know for a fact that they were because I saw them come in and check on us. I couldn’t sleep, so I watched her pull the covers up over my daughter.”

The Smiths made it to Anchorage for the funeral and back to their home outside Minneapolis without further incident, all while being watched over by TAPS and USO volunteers.

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“Throughout the whole time we would get calls from TAPS asking us if we needed anything or if we forgot anything,” Kathy said. “They called to make sure we got to the USO safely and we got calls shortly after we arrived. Every step of the way, they made sure that we weren’t stranded anywhere at any point in time.”

“In that moment and in so many others, USO volunteers made a grieving family feel more comfortable and gave them such care during a very difficult time,” said TAPS founder and president, Bonnie Carroll. “It’s the perfect example of why and how our organizations rely on each other to care for military families during their most difficult moments.”

“I miss him very much,” Kathy said. “But there are still Saturdays when I wake up thinking Corey’s going to call.”

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2015-2016 issue of On Patrol, the magazine of the USO.