H
Happy29
Guest
Everywhere in America, our troops have always been loved, whether they've served passed, present or future, or have died in combat or returned home to tell the story, they've always been loved. They've fought for freedom, liberated oppressed people, vanquished brutal dictators and stopped the spread of evil regimes and their doctrines; but a new opponent now haunts our brave men and women serving bravely at home and abroad and it's not the terrorists themselves, it's the opponent of disparity.
As the younger brother of an American Soldier who will go to Iraq in a matter of months and who as we speak is preparing for mobilization, I think it is a sin that our soldiers who fight and die liberating people in Iraq and hunting down terrorists are allowed only $8,000 for their family to pay for their expenses. Not to take anything away from the brave men and women who were killed on September 11th, but $517 million have been awarded to 349 claimees of 9/11 victims, that averages to 1.9 million per claimer, if you compare that to the $8,000 that our brave soldiers's families get if their son or daughter dies in Iraq; THAT IS RIDICULOUS AND IT IS A SHAME !
Let me dive even deeper into the numbers, you'll be sick to your stomach when I'm finished: Well, I just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million. If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt. Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers. Also, there are surviving family members of those killed in the Embassy Bombings and Oklahoma City Building Bombings asking for the same amount of compensation that the 9/11 families are.
This is just another example of embarrasing and entitlement politics in our country. While our Congressmen (whom over half have never fired a single shot in combat before) vote and pass raises for themselves and make themselves richer, many military families are getting poorer and poorer, nearly to the point where they survive on food stamps. Let's also note that these same Congressmen are almost close to being millionaires, they also do not receive social security on retirement because they didnt have to pay into the system and plus, they only have to serve one term to get a $15,000 pension check. While they're making raises for themselves, they're cutting many of the benefits and lowering pay for our men and women who are serving into the military, thus making most military families poorer.
Let's dive even deeper into the facts. If you got out of the Army as an E-7 which I believe is the rank of a 1st Sergeant and served over 20 honorable years, you'd get only a $1,000 pension. Let's compare this with what your "friendly" congressman is getting, about a $15,000 pension for only 6 years service. Firstly, I have respect for the Congressmen that do understand and that do fight for the rights of veterans and those killed in wars and for the rights of military families and I do have more respect for the Congressmen that did serve in the U.S Military, but I dont have respect for the people in Congress that work against the military family while increasing their own paycheck. We elected these Congresspeople to serve us not to haggle more funds for themselves. It's time to do something about this, and something needs to be done.
Do our Military families a favor and write to your Congressman or Congresswoman and tell them that the well-being of servicemen/servicewomen and their families is more important than their 4th vacation house.
That's the view from Happy29.
As the younger brother of an American Soldier who will go to Iraq in a matter of months and who as we speak is preparing for mobilization, I think it is a sin that our soldiers who fight and die liberating people in Iraq and hunting down terrorists are allowed only $8,000 for their family to pay for their expenses. Not to take anything away from the brave men and women who were killed on September 11th, but $517 million have been awarded to 349 claimees of 9/11 victims, that averages to 1.9 million per claimer, if you compare that to the $8,000 that our brave soldiers's families get if their son or daughter dies in Iraq; THAT IS RIDICULOUS AND IT IS A SHAME !
Let me dive even deeper into the numbers, you'll be sick to your stomach when I'm finished: Well, I just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million. If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt. Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers. Also, there are surviving family members of those killed in the Embassy Bombings and Oklahoma City Building Bombings asking for the same amount of compensation that the 9/11 families are.
This is just another example of embarrasing and entitlement politics in our country. While our Congressmen (whom over half have never fired a single shot in combat before) vote and pass raises for themselves and make themselves richer, many military families are getting poorer and poorer, nearly to the point where they survive on food stamps. Let's also note that these same Congressmen are almost close to being millionaires, they also do not receive social security on retirement because they didnt have to pay into the system and plus, they only have to serve one term to get a $15,000 pension check. While they're making raises for themselves, they're cutting many of the benefits and lowering pay for our men and women who are serving into the military, thus making most military families poorer.
Let's dive even deeper into the facts. If you got out of the Army as an E-7 which I believe is the rank of a 1st Sergeant and served over 20 honorable years, you'd get only a $1,000 pension. Let's compare this with what your "friendly" congressman is getting, about a $15,000 pension for only 6 years service. Firstly, I have respect for the Congressmen that do understand and that do fight for the rights of veterans and those killed in wars and for the rights of military families and I do have more respect for the Congressmen that did serve in the U.S Military, but I dont have respect for the people in Congress that work against the military family while increasing their own paycheck. We elected these Congresspeople to serve us not to haggle more funds for themselves. It's time to do something about this, and something needs to be done.
Do our Military families a favor and write to your Congressman or Congresswoman and tell them that the well-being of servicemen/servicewomen and their families is more important than their 4th vacation house.
That's the view from Happy29.