After a first deployment to Afghanistan in 2010 and a second to Kuwait in 2014, Sgt. Terrence Hinton and his family received orders to a highly coveted duty station amongst the Army community: Hawaii. In 2016, Sgt. Hinton, accompanied by his spouse, son, and daughter, was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in Oahu, Hawaii.
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Months later, Sgt. Terrence Hinton was tragically killed in a training accident. The May 14, 2017, incident left his spouse, Jillian, a young widow and single parent to their two children, ages 15 and 5. His death deeply affected his family and community, who remembered him not only for his military service but also for his commitment, dedication, and love for his family.
Overnight, Jillian became a Gold Star Spouse.
Remember. Respect. Honor.
Every year on April 5th, the nation honors our surviving wives and husbands (and sometimes broader families) of military service members who died in the line of duty. These individuals are known as Gold Star Spouses—a term tied to the service banner tradition dating back to World War I.
These banners, sometimes called “service flags,” were flown by military families during the Great War, with blue stars for every family member serving in uniform. If a loved one was killed, the blue star was replaced by a gold star. This allowed members of the community to know the price the family had paid in the cause of freedom, and it represented (as it does today) profound loss and sacrifice.
In 1936, the nation honored the mothers of these troops with Gold Star Mothers’ Day every April 5th. After World War II, it expanded to Gold Star Wives’ Day. It eventually evolved to Gold Star Spouses’ Day, but April 5th is still the day of commemoration.
Children Need Help, Too.
In 2020, the Hinton Family moved to Florida when Jillian began to notice her young daughter disconnect from peers, was afraid to leave their home, and exhibited extreme separation anxiety.
“Mom, I’d like to figure out how to die so I can see my dad one more time,” her daughter once said.
Jillian was spurred to action.
Through her intense search for resources and help for her daughter, she learned about Dogs Inc from another Gold Star widow. Jillian initiated contact and went through the multi-step application process while their family underwent multiple interviews and completed a home visit to ensure a lifetime of care and connection. Through Dogs Inc, her daughter would receive a skilled companion dog
Within a few short weeks, the Hinton Family was introduced to Taylor.
Taylor’s impact was immediately noticeable, as her daughter naturally settled into healthy sleep patterns throughout the night and ventured outside to play and socialize with peers.
Now that her daughter was taken care of with Taylor by her side, Jillian could shift focus to other priorities. But it wasn’t until five years later, in 2025, that she realized she had not processed her own grief.
She reached out to Dogs Inc again, as they had just launched their Gold Star partnership. Jillian was matched with her service dog, Kylo, and became the first Gold Star service dog team of Dogs Inc.
Within the first six months of their relationship, Jillian’s anxiety eased as she and Kylo traveled to six states, spent a week at Disney World, watched a University of South Florida football game from the sidelines, attended a concert, and went to Tampa Bay Lightning games.
After almost a decade as a Gold Star Spouse, Jillian began her own healing journey and built strength because of Kylo.
Service dog programs from organizations such as Dogs Inc provide support for Gold Star Spouses and Families through task-trained support for survivors where dogs are trained to interrupt panic attacks, PTSD, traumatic grief, and isolation, provide deep pressure therapy for anxiety, and help with daily tasks. The goal of service dogs is to honor the lives of our fallen service members by fostering courage from their families to re-engage with life after loss.
For more information, visit Gold Star Family Dog – Dogs Inc or Gold Star Spouses of America, Inc.
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