Growing up, Taryn wanted a passion for something that drove her to be a better person.  She wanted a soul mate to share her life with and contentment in the road ahead.

Taryn met Michael, a senior trombonist in her high school marching band. What began as puppy love blossomed but when college began Taryn and Michael went their separate ways.  Nearly a year later, they reconnect because of a decision Michael made–to join the United States Army. The pair communicated through daily letters and nearly six months later Michael proposed to Taryn. After their wedding and ten months in Alaska, Michael was called to duty in Baghdad, Iraq.

Taryn returned home and found herself not only a full-time college student, but a full-time Army wife with a deployed husband. Life was different compared to her peers and issues they faced. Taryn’s days were filled with concerns of Michael’s job as a combat engineer which included clearing roadside bombs.

On May 21, 2007 Taryn woke up like any other morning to talk to her husband on instant messenger. Little did she know that less than two hours later her husband would be killed by multiple roadside bombs. Her day went on like any other, but a phone call from a neighbor brought her home to find two men waiting to announce the words that would forever change her life, “The Secretary of Defense, regrets to inform you…..”

At 21, she stood at a podium and read her husband’s eulogy. As the days turned into weeks the support drifted away. Taryn spent night after night researching support services and looking for others who shared the same tragedy in a time of war.  Feeling lost and alone, Taryn reached out to one of the widows whose spouse died in the same incident as her husband.  What started with one widow, inspired her to travel across the country to hear other women’s stories of love, tragedy and survival. In hearing their accounts, she hoped to learn more about the title that had been given to her–that of a military widow.

What began as her own personal journey has expanded into a documentary film and The American Widow Project, a non-profit organization. She has grasped on and embraced her new life with all the enthusiasm and passion she had when Michael was still alive. Inspired solely by the willpower and strength of the women “in her shoes” she has found that true love is eternal, that the lessons and things her husband said and did still run through her veins and that she is not alone.

Her passion has become to carry on a hero’s legacy, empower widows and follow her dreams.  Taryn hopes to reach out to her generation by making them aware that sacrifice and survival takes place on a daily basis.

You can order the powerful AMERICAN WIDOW PROJECT documentary with your FACES OF WAR promotional kit!