Leaving a Legacy

In September of 2003, 23-year-old U.S. Army sergeant Thomas 'T.J.' Sweet of Bismarck, N.D., arrived in Junction City, Iraq, for his first deployment.
Assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kans., Sweet and his unit were to help restore local elementary schools.
Sweet was even preparing to work with a Maryland Eagle Scout to provide school supplies for Iraqi students.
Then, on Thanksgiving morning, nearly three months after arriving in the Middle East, Sweet died by suicide.

Back in the United States, Sweet's mother Liz thumbed through a magazine published by Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) as she travelled from Bismarck to Washington, D.C., for T.J.'s funeral.
TAPS is a nonprofit organization that provides compassionate care to all those grieving the loss of a military loved one.
Liz, who lives in the D.C. region, was intrigued to discover TAPS too is based in the area. Liz soon met with TAPS founder Bonnie Carroll, and a relationship between TAPS and the Sweet family sparked that has continued for 14 years.
"First of all, TAPS is an organization that nobody wants to belong to," Sweet said. "Second of all there's always somebody on the other end of the phone, 24/7. It doesn't make a difference if it's the middle of the night or five o'clock in the afternoon, somebody is always there to answer the phone. Whatever you need, you may just need someone to talk to, but they have never not been there."
Since the 2011-12 season, that relationship has also included the Capitals through the team's Courage Caps initiative, through which the team annually sells Courage-branded hats and T-shirts, with all proceeds benefitting TAPS. For the past 5 seasons Courage Caps has been presented by Telos, and the merchandise is available for purchase at the team store at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the team store at Capital One Arena and at the merchandise stand at section 107 during Capitals home games.
The Caps also sell a limited amount of autographed courage-branded hats, which are available on
WashCaps.com/Courage
.

Since the program launched during the 2007-08 season, the Courage campaign has raised nearly $925,000 for charity through the sale of 25,778 Courage hats in ten years and 13,693 Courage T-shirts in eight years.
More than $725,000 of that has been donated to TAPS. Funds raised provide peer-based emotional support, regional seminars for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, casework assistance, grief and trauma resources and a 24/7 resource and information helpline for bereaved military families.
Each season, the Capitals have hosted a skating event for children and adult loved ones who have found healing through TAPS.
This year's participants included John Carlson, Taylor Chorney, Brooks Orpik, T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen.
"For anybody in a position like us, to be able to give back to these families is important," said Chorney. "They've sacrificed everything and it's an awesome opportunity for us to give back and show appreciation for all that these families go through."
The Sweets haven't missed a single Courage Caps skate in seven years, and at least one member of the Sweet family has volunteered to help sell as many hats and shirts as possible annually.
Through the Sweets' work with TAPS, Liz has been able to build a relationship with participating players. Most notably is T.J. Oshie, who bears the same name as Liz's fallen son, and who also attended the University of North Dakota, just as Liz and her husband did.
In an effort to carry on their son's legacy, the Sweet family made challenge coins bearing T.J.'s name. At each Courage Caps skate, Liz gifts a coin to each Caps player who takes to the ice in honor of her son.
For players who have participated in the Courage campaign multiple seasons, the gesture is a touching moment that reinforces the purpose of Courage, while Liz is equally moved by how returning players remember her son's story.
"It's a very sad thing that happened to their family," Oshie said. "With her son being named T.J. and her watching us play on TV and my name being T.J., and her supporting me, it's very humbling and very cool to have so much support from their family. I hope I make them proud and represent the T.J. name the way they want me to when I'm out on the ice."

The Courage Caps skate is intended to be a fun event for TAPS families to spend time with Capitals players, hopefully easing the pain of a fallen lost loved one like T.J. Sweet. That responsibility isn't lost on the players.
"It's really important for me and for the other guys involved with the skate to put a smile on the faces of everyone at the TAPS event," Oshie said. "It really grounds you and makes you appreciate what you're able to do for people. I think it's a really important cause and I'm really proud to be a part of it."
For more information and to purchase Courage gear, visit WashCaps.com/Courage.