Senate likely to OK doubling ‘death gratuity’ to families of combat soldiers

WASHINGTON – The Senate is expected to pass legislation increasing the amount paid by the military to U.S. service members’ next of kin from $6,000 to $12,000 as early as next week.

The bill, which would mark the first increase in the “death gratuity” since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, was introduced Wednesday by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, John Warner, R-Va., and John McCain, R-Ariz., all of whom are members of the Armed Services Committee.

Quick passage is expected. The Senate passed the 1991 increase by voice vote, and the House passed it by a vote of 396-4.

“We can never fully repay the debt of our nation to those who have laid down their lives for the cause of freedom,” Collins said. “The best we can do is honor their memory, ensure that their sacrifice is not in vain and help provide for their families.”

The death gratuity is commonly provided within 72 hours to the family of a service member who is killed while on active duty. The funds are intended to assist grieving families with their immediate financial needs. It is paid in addition to the primary death benefits a service member is due, which can include life insurance and other veterans’ compensation plans.

Megan Sowards, a spokeswoman for Collins, said the bill’s benefits would be retroactive to September 2001 and apply to any soldier killed on active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere in the war on terror. She said the senator decided an increase in the death benefit was due after contemplating ways to aid the families of Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin and Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, two Marines with Maine ties who died in a helicopter crash in the first days of the war in Iraq.

Veterans’ groups applauded the legislation.

“Obviously, there’s been inflation since 1991,” said Mark Olanoff, assistant director for the American Legion’s National Legislative Commission. “That’s probably the reason they’re looking at this – $6,000 isn’t the same as it was twelve years ago, and it sure makes logical sense to increase the amount that is given to the next of kin.”

“I think this is something that falls below the radar screen if it’s not in the news,” said Dennis Cullinan, legislative director of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. “Clearly now there’s a very strong need for it. Unfortunately we’re taking some casualties, and while this benefit won’t mitigate the loss of these families, it will help with the financial repercussions.”

“On another issue, it’s a way for the nation to acknowledge its debt to our fallen defenders,” Cullinan said.

According to The Associated Press, as of Thursday afternoon, 27 members of the U.S. armed forces had been killed in the Iraqi campaign, seven were captured, and eight were missing.