It was a pleasure to read the story in the Warwick Beacon’s Rhody Life section recently about the Patriot Honor Ride stopping in Rhode Island to honor a local disabled veteran and the child of a Navy SEAL who died in combat in Afghanistan. The organization deserves the recognition it receives for the assistance it provides to selected veterans and some of the children of fallen military members.

There are many organizations that serve veterans and a few that serve the children of service members killed during military operations, children who are designated Gold Star Children. One such organization is based here in Rhode Island.

The Ocean State Gold Star Teen Sailing Adventure, with offices at the Ship History Center, 2500 Post Road, Warwick, is an organization run primarily by retired military members for the benefit of Gold Star Teens who have lost a parent or sibling during military operations, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was founded by Colonel Patrick Powers, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, three years ago when he recruited a group of retired military officers and NCOs in Rhode Island to run a sailing camp for Gold Star Teens. Run now by a board of directors, Colonel Powers remains heavily involved as a board member and as chief counselor for the sailing adventure.

In its third year of operation, the sailing adventure ran this year from July 31 through August 6. Thirteen Gold Star Teens - ages 13 through 18 - gathered in Rhode Island to experience the sailing adventure. The adventure attracted teens from across the country and from the United Kingdom and was sponsored by Seamanship and Leadership Training for Youths (SALTY), based here in Rhode Island, and by the Rhode Island National Guard’s Child and Youth Program.

The sailing adventure’s charter is to provide an adult-supervised, co-ed, fun, non-threatening adventure for surviving teens of military personnel who have given their lives in defense of our freedoms. The adventure provides the teens an opportunity to learn sailing and leadership skills and valuable life skills while developing enduring friendships with similar teens. Most important is the opportunity for healing that is provided as these teens interact with true peers.

States represented by this year’s Gold Star Teens included Nebraska, Florida, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Virginia - with two teens from the United Kingdom whose fathers were killed during coalition operations in Iraq.

The adventure involved an intensive week of sail training on Narragansett Bay interspersed with shore-based adventures, such as horse polo, rappelling, astronomy, Navy bridge simulator operations, Air National Guard C-130J aircraft orientation, Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter orientation, Newport Ghost Walk, a barbecue, and a clambake.

The teens and counselors lived aboard two very large ships, a 44-foot catamaran sailing vessel and a 46-foot Hunter sailboat - with both sailing throughout the Bay. Sailing instruction was aboard Rhodes 19 sailboats, 40 foot racing sail ships, the 80-foot schooner Aquidneck, and U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats.

The Gold Star Teen Sailing Adventure is run largely by retired military personnel from Rhode Island, with a smattering of others, including an active Army Colonel from Maryland, a Virginia judge, a Rhode Island social worker, a Florida dive shop owner and the executive Director and founder of SALTY. These men and women consider nothing more important than assisting these still silently bereaving teens.

Coasters Harbor Yacht Club, located on the Newport Naval Base and operated by and for military members and retirees, was instrumental in making the sailing adventure a huge success. Five of the clubs member who own 19-foot Rhodes sailboats volunteered numerous hours of their time and their boats to teaching the 13 GST youngsters the intricacies of sailing.

The Newport Yacht Club hosted a barbecue for the teens after the club's boat owners had taken them out on four 40 foot racing sailboats. After learning the basics on the 19 footers, the teens were introduced to how larger ships navigate the winds while racing.

The teens fell in love with sailing and many said they would now seek additional instruction in their home states, even a young lady from land-locked Nebraska.

Particularly impressive to the teens was their visit to the Naval Station's bridge simulator. There, in 360-degree virtual reality, the teens steered major war ships in and out of harbors, through minefields, and in simulated battle with other ships. It was video games taken to an unbelievable level. Anyone who watched or participated felt much better about how their tax dollars are spent by the military. The simulation's virtual reality training saves countless training dollars and, likely, many military lives.

Perhaps most challenging for the teens was repelling down the Army National Guard's training tower at Camp Fogarty in East Greenwich. Stepping out of a window eight stories in the air and relying on courage, good ropes and equipment, and on hovering instructors, the teens accomplished something that few teens are able to achieve.

Most important for the Gold Star Teens, however, was the opportunity to interact with other teens that have also experienced the loss of a father or brother in the seemingly endless war on terrorism. It is one thing for a silently grieving teen to talk to a surviving parent or sibling, or to a professional counselor. It is quite another for a suffering teen to be able to talk to another teen who is going through the same grief, especially when the teens have bonded during sailing and during other shared adventures.

By the end of the sailing adventure on August 6, the teens were exhausted but extremely happy and satisfied. They had shared emotional issues, had made lifelong friends, and had experienced tremendous learning and fun. Every one of them expressed interest in returning next year.

The sailing adventure is operated solely with donated funds from both private and corporate contributors. Major donors include Amica Insurance, Walmart Stores, Ocean State Transit (bus) Company, the Newport Yacht Club and the Coasters Harbor Yacht Club.

The men and women who run the Ocean State Gold Star Teen Sailing Adventure and the teens who benefit from the program thank the many donors and other supporters who have made the adventure such a success. Most important, we thank the thousands of service men and women who have given their lives to protect our country and our freedom. We are honored to contribute to the healing of these heroes' children.

Retired Army Col. Lonnie Barham lives in Conimicut and is operation director for the Gold Star Teens Sailing Adventure. Other key volunteers include, Co-Executive Director, Richard Keene, Brigadier General (Retired), U.S. Army; Co-Executive Director, Captain Dave Pickering, Executive Director, Seamanship and Leadership Training for Youths, Warwick; Director of Recruiting/Administration, Jessica Rivard, Rhode Island National Guard Child and Youth Program, Warwick; Chief Counselor, Patrick Powers, Colonel, U.S. Army, Metro-Washington, D.C. and Culinary Director, Patricia Ryan, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), Florida.