Five years ago, 13 families had their worst nightmares realized and forever became known as the Abbey Gate gold star families.One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five days consisting of birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and daily interactions have passed without their loved ones who were killed when an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated a suicide explosive vest that killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 160 civilians in Kabul, Afghanistan.“We all struggle in our own ways from time to time. I mean, it doesn’t get any easier. It just gets different,” gold star father Mark Schmitz told the Washington Examiner. “We personally have channeled our energy and focus into trying to turn a tragedy into a positive.”
Channeling grief into action
For the Schmitz family, they’ve funneled their grief into a new nonprofit organization called Freedom 13, which is a nod to the 13 service members killed five years ago.The organization is looking to build camps consisting of one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes for first responders, veterans, and their families for weeklong stays while they get assistance with mental health counseling, job training, and service dog placement.The first camp the organization is building is in Bourbon, Missouri. Two of the 13 houses planned have already been built, and it is getting ready to break ground on three more. Given how expensive and time-consuming construction was, they now intend to open the facility to the public once the three additional houses are complete, which Schmitz said is expected to happen before the end of the year. There will also be a playground, swimming pool, a tennis court being converted into pickleball courts, a lake for fishing, and a shooting range.A drawing of what one of the Freedom 13 camps will look like when completed. (Courtesy of Mark Schmitz)
