Please Tell Me They Do More
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| Thu, 12-03-2009 - 1:07pm |
This isn't exactly in the news, but relative to many different news issues.
A co-worker was telling me this morning about her neighbor, a young mother with a 3 year old and a 5 month old baby whose husband was killed in Afghanistan. The baby was born 3 weeks after its father's death.
This woman, not only struggling with the death of her husband, is now facing a difficult time financially. She says the death benefits for the military are terrible and now she finds herself a widow with two children and little to go on.
I was shocked. I thought our military did better by our soldiers; especially those who have given their lives in the line of duty. I did a little research and found that beneficiaries of soldiers are provided a 200,000 life insurance policy, any unpaid pay and allowances, and a lump sum of $255.00 in social security, and one year of medical benefits. If your spouse was lucky enough to have been in the Air Force, you will receive an additional 100k if he/she was killed in combat.
Now 200k might sound like a lot, but it's certainly not when you have a home to take care of and children to raise. Who will pay to send these children to college now? Who will take care of their medical needs after that one year is up? Who will help this woman get on her feet, find a job, assist with her needs? Imagine finding yourself a widow with babies, mourning your husband, and at the same time knowing you're facing having to find a job and daycare. Does anyone in the military ever consider the emotional, mental and financial stress this puts on surviving family members?
I'm appalled that the surviving family of our service men and women aren't better provided for, especially during war time. I was glad to hear that my co-workers neighborhood has pitched in and taken up a collection for this family for Christmas. But after this man sacrificed his life for his country, one would think the government would take better care of his wife and children.


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Poor lady.
She should get in touch with the
I don't want to sound cold... but here goes.
As the military says, they didn't issue a soldier a family.
((And $200,000 is nothing to sneeze at. At least in my area.))
$200,000 is NOTHING when you are young and have an infant child. It won't last long...just a few years. It will, however, allow her time to get educated or acquire a skill so she can join the work force and get a good paying job. If she's smart...she will go into nursing. That's a career that is always in demand, the pay is decent and there are many, many different "avenues" of nursing to choose from and the hours can be flexible in some jobs.
$200,000 is NOTHING when you are young and have an infant child. It won't last long...just a few years.
Again, it depends upon the area where you live.
This money will buy her time, but my point was aimed more at the military and why more is not done for the families of soldiers killed in combat. In the grand scheme, there really aren't that many. Several thousand, perhaps, and one would think our government could make a sacrifice for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us.
Those children should be provided a college education, so the surviving parent doesn't have to worry about that. The children should be provided medical care until they are grown. The surviving spouse should be provided education benefits or job training if he/she needs it.
In other words, that family should be watched over out of respect for the soldier who gave his life for this country.
So sad she is a widow with two young children to support. I nearly was in the same situation many years ago when my DH was in a horrible car accident and I was pg with our second child. Thank God he survived and had only some bruising to his kidneys, it could have been much, much worse. I was a young mother...only 21 then, and only had a GED and no real job skills. It would have been awfully hard for me with two little children to make a living. I would have had to move in with my parents who didn't have much themselves. $200,00 is a lot of money, but I do agree, it won't last long in today's economy. Jobs are so hard to come by now. I don't know much about the benefits military dependents get, but would imagine she would get some form of widow's pension from the VA. The children will receive social security benefits and as their primary caregiver, she may qualify for some. I don't know. All I know is that I agree our military doesn't do enough for servicemen and their families....yes, they are volunteers and do know what they are doing when they join the military, to say they shouldn't have families is ridiculous...my father was in the service in WWII and yes, he was a volunteer and yes, he did have a family. I am in the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion and I am disappointed we don't do more for our servicemen and women. I have heard the VFW does help and maybe she can get some help from them. There should also be a group of women who will help her from the base her husband was stationed in....maybe she should contact the chaplin there and he can guide her in the right direction.
God be with her and her children and all the families of our servicemen and women.
You can search the Veteran's Administration website.
There is more including monthly assistance, TRICARE, potential education benefits, etc., Additionally, the children will receive Social Security benefits as will the young mother. For more (warning - some browsers will give a warning about entering the military website below):
https://cs.mhf.dod.mil/content/dav/mhf/QOL-Library/Project%20Documents/MilitaryHOMEFRONT/Service%20Providers/Casualty%20Assistance/Survivors%20Guide.pdf?current_id=20.40.500.93.500.570.0.0.0
and
http://www.ssa.gov/survivorplan/ifyou.htm
I'm not sure why the counselor left the widow so poorly informed. She should request another meeting and go over things again. That said, I don't believe we can do enough to honor our fallen or assisting their survivors.
yes, they are volunteers and do know what they are doing when they join the military, to say they shouldn't have families is ridiculous...
The saying about the military not issuing them families is something I
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