Rear Admiral James G Prout III, 1st Company, USNA’66, died on active duty in 1995. At the time of his tragic death he was one of the most highly decorated Naval Officers in the Navy. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V for Valor for his heroism in Vietnam where he worked with Navy UDT and SEAL team One and the Distinguished Service Award among his other many medals.
Jay’s widow, Kathy, is built of the same “stuff”. While navigating through her grief she experienced systemic gaps in survivor benefits and vowed to help other surviving spouses avoid going through what she did.
Kathy helped start the Gold Star Spouses of America for the surviving wives and husbands of servicemembers who died in the line of duty or from a service-related injury or disease.
“By working on trying to fix things that were obviously wrong, it honored my husband’s death, service, and sacrifice,” she said.
May we live in a way that honors their sacrifice. May we never forget the cost.
Gold Star Spouses of America is part of The Military Coalition and is also a support system that points surviving spouses in the right direction to obtain benefits for which they might not even know they’re entitled. Indeed, Prout has been active with ’66 widows sharing her lessons learned and pointing to resources she has helped develop. Click HERE and scroll down to “Survivor Benefits” for the MOAA Survivor Guide and Resources.
Kathy was selected as one of 5 national CHANGEMAKERS by the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA).Its magazine, Military Officer, featured Kathy in its cover story for the January 2026 publication. Click HERE for the article.
She also was asked to speak, representing Gold Star spouses and families, on December 13, 2025 at the Wreaths Across America ceremony at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego (Pt. Loma). She spoke about Jay and what happened to him, the notifications, and how Jay lived. Click HERE for a copy of her speech.
What’s next for Kathy Prout? She is advocating for a new bill that is funded but needs cosponsors. The “Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Benefits Expansion Act”, HR 6047, would increase the benefits for a forgotten group of veterans and their families for the first time in over 20 years. It also would raise the monthly benefits rate for catastrophically service-connected disabled veterans with a traumatic brain injury or other severe disabilities that require regular, round the clock, in-home medical care.
The Bill is named for Sharri Briley, surviving spouse of CW3 Donovan Lee “Bull” Briley, an Army Special Operations Blackhawk helicopter pilot who was killed in a mission in Somalia that inspired the movie “Blackhawk Down”, and Sgt Eric Edmundson, USA RET who, as a result of his service during deployment near the Iraq/Syria border in 2005, sustained life altering injuries including permanent damage from anoxic brain injury which ended his ability to speak or walk.
Kathy encourages people to call their Congressperson and ask them to cosponsor, not just support, the bill. She supplied information about the bill to Congress. Click HERE for a briefing on the bill. The bill language is on Congress.gov.
