{"id":16270,"date":"2025-10-04T23:36:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T05:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/they-are-not-they-were-gold-star-parents-honor-children-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:56:09","slug":"they-are-not-they-were-gold-star-parents-honor-children-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/they-are-not-they-were-gold-star-parents-honor-children-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They are, not they were\u2019: Gold Star parents honor children in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Bobby
Bobby Cotter speaks at the Gold Star Parents Healing Conference, held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building, on Saturday morning in Durango . His daughter, Samantha \u201cSam\u201d Cotter, died while serving in the U.S. Airforce. (Jessica Bowman\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gold Star families gathered in Durango this weekend for the Colorado Gold Star Healing Conference, a chance for parents who have lost children in military service to find comfort, connection and understanding in one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows us the opportunity to come together and be with others that get it. We may all be at different stages of our grief, yet we can support others as they can support us \u2013 often in ways that the rest of the world cannot,\u201d said Jill Williams, a Gold Star mother and coordinator of the conference. \u201cWe are here to change the \u2018they were\u2019 to \u2018they are.\u2019 We each have stories about our kids that need to be heard and need to be told. This is what keeps them alive and never forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Veterans
Veterans participate in a Color Guard Routine at the Gold Star Parents Healing Conference on Saturday in Durango. (Jessica Bowman\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Saturday morning, attendees gathered at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Building for a Color Guard Routine, followed by two speakers who shared stories about the children they lost. The morning event closed with a video roll call featuring each child who had died in the service of the U.S. military.<\/p>\n

The first speaker, Georgia McNabb, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, paused at times \u2013 seemingly lost in memories \u2013 as she spoke about her son, Barett Wamblic McNabb.<\/p>\n

A slideshow of photos ran behind Georgia as she spoke, offering a glimpse into Barett\u2019s life. The crowd saw Barett grow from a grinning, blond-haired toddler into a handsome, broad-shouldered man dressed in Army-issue camouflage \u2013 still with the same grin, one that softened the threat of the large, automatic rifle slung at his side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat man did not know how to not smile,\u201d Georgia said.<\/p>\n

A photo of him stretched out on the floor with his two Great Danes. A photo of him jumping on the trampoline with his son. A photo of him in the Afghan desert, dressed in full combat gear.<\/p>\n

Another photo, this time of his friends wearing Army issue dress blues. They stare solemnly at the camera, holding a framed photo of Barett.<\/p>\n

Not pictured: The day Georgia\u2019s life split into the before, and the after. But she talked about it.<\/p>\n

She recalled the moment two men in uniform came to her door, and her disbelief that her son could have died without her knowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I didn\u2019t feel him die, I couldn\u2019t accept it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat day, I lost my heart, and for six years, I basically was a zombie \u2026 but even if it takes that long, you can start moving forward and start remembering all these wonderful, good times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cWe
\u201cWe are here to change the \u2018they were\u2019 to \u2018they are.\u2019 We each have stories about our kids that need to be heard and need to be told. This is what keeps them alive and never forgotten,\u201d said Jill Williams, Gold Star mother, at the annual healing conference for Gold Star parents across Colorado. (Jessica Bowman\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Bobby Cotter, the second and final speaker, said he tries to remember the good times every day. He and his wife have attended Gold Star and TAPS events since the death of their daughter, Samantha \u201cSam\u201d Cotter, three years ago.<\/p>\n

Sam was adventurous, outgoing and active \u2013 traits that seemed to suit her bright shock of cropped red hair. She died while serving in the Air Force, a loss her father described as sharp but softened by the chance to talk about her.<\/p>\n

He spoke candidly, remembering her as a young woman who loved to have fun, was curious about life and still finding her way. In high school, she joined nearly every sports team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have a Tiger Woods,\u201d Cotter said with a laugh. \u201cWhat she did have, though, was heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

That heart, he said, comes back to him not just in memory, but in conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe come to these because we want to talk,\u201d Cotter said. \u201cWe want to talk about our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event closed with a 15-minute slideshow featuring 33 young men and women \u2013 the children of the Gold Star parents.<\/p>\n

A reminder flicks across the screen \u2013 \u201cFreedom isn\u2019t free.\u201d<\/p>\n

jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

\"The
The Hall of Heroes features the portraits of 402 Colorado service members who have died since Sept. 11, 2001, and is on display at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building in Durango. (Jessica Bowman\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Gold
Gold Star parents and families met at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building in Durango on Saturday for a Color Guard ceremony, speeches from two parents and a video roll call honoring each family and their children. The event was part of the Colorado Gold Star Healing Conference, held annually in the state. (Jessica Bowman\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Families of fallen service members gather to share memories, support one another, keep their children\u2019s stories alive at annual healing conference <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,184],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-veterans-affairs"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16270"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20108,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16270\/revisions\/20108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16270"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}