U.S. treats troops’ widows, orphans pitifully

Marine Staff Sgt. Aaron White was killed in a helicopter crash on May 19, 2003, in Iraq. Here is an excerpt from his last letter home to his wife, Michele, and his baby daughter, Brianna.

“What keeps me up at night is thinking you may never know what you mean to me. ... If I don’t come home, please tell Brianna that her daddy loves her more than life. ... Brianna, it breaks my heart to have to miss your first birthday. I hope that you will forgive me. ... I fall asleep every night with visions of you and your mommy in my head, reminding me of all I have been blessed with. I will be with you every day, if not in body, then in spirit. I love you more than my words could ever say.”

Aaron was killed two days after Brianna turned 1. When an American in a military uniform is killed, his or her family receives a one-time death gratuity of $12,000. The surviving family may also qualify for the Survivor Benefit Plan, which is paid up to age 62 or until the spouse remarries. The SBP benefit amounts to 55 percent of the soldier’s retirement pay, pay that is already so low it qualifies many military families for food stamps.

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Our idea of “supporting the troops” is to stick magnetic yellow ribbons on our cars. Americans who do not serve or do not have family serving are disconnected from our all-volunteer forces and their families.

You can find the rest here.

I used to sign the Death Gratuity payments that this article refers to. The last time I cut one of these checks, it was $6,000.00, way back in the year 2000. It is now $12,000.00. Interesting. It is my understanding that this is quick cash given to family members to pay for funeral expenses.

What this article does leave out is SGLI (Soldiers Group Life Insurance). Almost everyone there is ensured for a $250,000.00 benefit. Yes, that is less than the victims of 9/11, but you have to keep things in perspective. Our government was paying out survivor benefits to Civil War veteran widows all the way to the 1970’s.

The real loss (emotions aside) is the service member’s lifetime of income that no one can be prepared for financially.