Posted on: Friday, February 4, 2005

EDITORIAL
Soldiers deserve generous death benefit increase

A subtle buzz occasionally audible behind the din of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts sometimes suggest that those who are doing the fighting are somehow worth less consideration than those of us who remain at home.

Clearly, this is not the feeling of most Americans, no matter where they stand on the war and its value.

And now, President Bush has taken an important step in making it clear that the nation does more than talk the talk when it comes to gratitude for the sacrifices of men and women in uniform. He is proposing to increase to $250,000 government payments to families of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

These families now receive a tax-free "death gratuity" of $12,420, plus up to $250,000 in optional life insurance, if the premiums are paid up.

No program can bring back a loved one, David Chu, an undersecretary of defense added, but we can make the circumstances of the surviving family "reasonable, in terms of finances."

We couldn't agree more, particularly with the unusually high reliance on National Guard and Army Reserve troops in combat situations. Unlike previous wars, we're seeing a high number of established heads of households, sometimes in their 40s, being called from productive careers to fight this war.

When they die, their families need the understanding and the financial support of the nation they defended. The president's proposal should be quickly put into effect.