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Non-Profit Helps Bring Together Those Who Lost Husbands In War

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – It was an unlikely meeting this weekend in the Bay Area for several women who lost their husbands in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The non-profit American Widow Project is an organization dedicated to the new generation of those who have lost husbands serving in the war.

When founder Taryn Davis was 21, she was informed that her husband, Corporal Michael Davis, had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

That was in 2007. Since then, she created the organization expressly for war widows.

KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:

"The majority of these women are in their early to mid 20's to late 30's," she said. "They're people you would probably cross in a Target store and not give a second glance to."

Davis organized a retreat this weekend for about a dozen women from different parts of the United States. She said they attended a meditation retreat and went to dinner to share their stories, tears and hopes for the future.

"You can see the physical toll that has been taken due to these wars," said Davis. "But the thing with the widows is the pain and what they're feeling is just as painful, if not more."

She said when she first became a widow, she felt alone and isolated from the rest of society. But she soon discovered that other war widows were feeling the same way as she was.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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