There are more than 5,000 Gold Star kids around the country, grieving the death of a parent, sibling or close relative. They come together each year at the Good Grief Camp, run by the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS.

While there, they find empathy from legacy mentors — kids who have experienced the worst kind of pain, and who are now remarkably helping others through theirs.

That includes kids like Brooke Nyren, who lost her father, Army Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Nyren in Iraq 13 years ago. She says she still remembers hearing the news, starting with a knock on the door.

"I saw two men standing there in uniform and I knew exactly what it meant," she said. "And the whole time I stood standing there saying, 'I know he's dead, because why else would they come to the house?' I felt like I lost my whole world. He was so important to me."

BRB, sobbing endlessly now.