Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. is a non-profit membership organization, chartered by the U.S. Congress as a unique organization. There are currently 10,000 members nationwide, with over 60 active chapters.

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03/13/2007
Gold Star Wives wage war on bureaucracy
By: Monty Tayloe

On March 20, 2003, the United States sent the first U.S. troops into Iraq. Ever since, with horrifying regularity, American soldiers have been dying there.

In four years, the massive bureaucratic machinery of the U.S. government has had to process the deaths of more than 3,000 Americans, a task that includes notifying families, arranging funerals and dispensing benefits.

Despite all this practice, the system is not working, according to 33-year-old Lorton resident Kimberly Hazelgrove.
"Their whole bureaucracy is a discombobulated process. There is no one office, nobody understands what they're doing," Hazelgrove explained.

Hazelgrove speaks from experience. On Jan. 23, 2004, her husband, CWO2 Brian Hazelgrove, was killed in a helicopter crash near Mosul, Iraq.

In the aftermath of her husband's death, Hazelgrove had to move on, fast, for the sake of their children, Brandon, 6, and Kaitlyn, 3. According to Hazelgrove, the death of a soldier means a bewildering array of paperwork and red tape for that soldier's spouse, all to collect benefits that may be the only means of support for multiple households.


"If all the kids have the same mother and they all live together, that's ideal but that just isn't always the case these days," said Hazelgrove, who is also stepmother to two of her husband's children.

Hazelgrove described being shunted from office to office and working with "casualty officers" that she said were too young and inexperienced to know the ins and outs of the system of veterans' benefits.

"It's a lot to deal with if you're a young widow," Hazelgrove said.

Brian Hazelgrove hailed originally from Indiana, served in an air cavalry unit based in New York, and then served in Iraq. According to Hazelgrove, her husband's records are not in any of those places.

"Of course, you find out later that you were supposed to keep copies of all of that. They tell you that, but you don't remember. Your husband has just died, you have kids to take care of. It's horrible," Hazelgrove said.

Lost in the many confusing options offered by the departments of the Army and Veterans Affairs, Hazelgrove said she needed help.

She found help in an organization called the Gold Star Wives, founded in the wake of World War II for widows of U.S. military personnel. Members are often seen at Memorial Day events in distinctive yellow "garrison caps" and blazers. The organization brings widows together to help each other.

"We are there to support our members, primarily as an information source," explained Helga Knapp, president of the Potomac chapter of the Gold Star Wives. Knapp's husband died in 1998 of injuries sustained in the Vietnam War. Now, she and other members of the group use their in-depth knowledge of the system to aid women who never expected to need to know how to collect death benefits.

"It takes a while to deal with a spouse's death. ... A lot of the newer widows are very young and have low incomes," Knapp said. "They don't know how to go about all this bureaucracy, and they don't have the time to learn."

Along with allowing new widows to network, the group performs extensive charity work and, especially in the case of the Potomac chapter, informs legislators about the problems of military widows.

Both Hazelgrove and Knapp have testified before Senate committees, and Hazelgrove has appeared on MSNBC to discuss benefit issues.

They also concentrate on letting people know that the Gold Star Wives are available to assist widows created by the current conflict.

"These are the widows that need us. They don't have the funds to hire lawyers, to come to the D.C. area and lobby senators. They have families to raise," Hazelgrove said.



©Times Community Newspapers 2007

Issue: Congress should repeal the law that reduces military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities by the amount of any survivor benefits payable under the VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) program.

Background: Under current law, the surviving spouse of a retired member who dies of a service-connected cause is entitled to DIC from the Department of Veterans Affairs. If the military retiree was also enrolled in SBP, the surviving spouse's SBP benefits are reduced by the amount of DIC (currently $1067 per month). A pro-rated share of SBP premiums is refunded to the widow upon the member's death in a lump sum, but with no interest. The offset also affects all survivors of members who are killed on active duty. There are approximately 61,000 military widows/widowers affected by the DIC offset.

MOAA believes SBP and DIC payments are paid for different reasons. SBP is purchased by the retiree and is intended to provide a portion of retired pay to the survivor. DIC is a special indemnity compensation paid to the survivor when a member's service causes his or her premature death. In such cases, the VA indemnity compensation should be added to the SBP the retiree paid for, not substituted for it. It's also noteworthy as a matter of equity that surviving spouses of federal civilian retirees who are disabled veterans and die of military-service-connected causes can receive DIC without losing any of their purchased federal civilian SBP benefits.

In the case of members killed on active duty since October 7, 2001, a surviving spouse with children can avoid the dollar-for-dollar offset by assigning SBP to the children. But that forces the spouse to give up any SBP claim after the children attain their majority - leaving the spouse with less than $13000 annual annuity from the VA. Those who give their lives for their country deserve fairer compensation for their surviving spouses.

In each of the last two years, the Senate has passed Sen Bill Nelson's (D-FL) amendment to repeal the SBP-DIC offset in its version of the Defense Authorization Act, only to have the provision dropped in final negotiations with the House.

The estimated cost of this proposed legislation is $9.2 billion over 10 years.

Please click here for a brochure with more facts and figures on the SBP-DIC offset.

MOAA Position: MOAA strongly supports repeal of the DIC offset to SBP, because the two benefits are paid for different reasons and as a matter of equity with federal civil service practices. Enactment is a major MOAA goal for 2007.

Key Bills/Status: Once again Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has introduced a joint SBP-DIC and SBP Paid up bill. The Military Retiree Survivor Equity Act, S.935, would repeal the SBP-DIC offset and move up the effective date of paid-up SBP to 1 Oct. 2007. In the House Representative Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) has introduced H.R.1927, a companion bill to Nelson's S. 935. Also the House Representative Brown (R-SC 1st) introduced H.R. 1589 which repeals the provisions of Title 10 which require the offset of DIC payments from SBP annuities.

The House passed version of the FY07 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes a special $40 monthly "military survivor indemnity allowance" to survivors whose SBP annuities are reduced by VA survivor benefits, beginning on Oct. 1, 2008.

In the case of members killed on active duty since October 7, 2001, a surviving spouse with children can avoid the dollar-for-dollar offset by assigning SBP to the children. But that forces the spouse to give up any SBP claim after the children attain their majority - leaving the spouse with less than $13000 annual annuity from the VA. Those who give their lives for their country deserve fairer compensation for their surviving spouses.

See. This is what I am talking about. As a Desert Storm widow, I am completely left out. I couldn't assign SBP to children. I just didn't get it at all!! There is a whole generation of Vietnam, Cold War & Desert Storm suvivors being completely left out while they discuss "offsets" for Iraq war survivors.

How about some equity here before we give more benefits to some?

quote:

Originally posted by drengr:
In the case of members killed on active duty since October 7, 2001, a surviving spouse with children can avoid the dollar-for-dollar offset by assigning SBP to the children. But that forces the spouse to give up any SBP claim after the children attain their majority - leaving the spouse with less than $13000 annual annuity from the VA. Those who give their lives for their country deserve fairer compensation for their surviving spouses.

See. This is what I am talking about. As a Desert Storm widow, I am completely left out. I couldn't assign SBP to children. I just didn't get it at all!! There is a whole generation of Vietnam, Cold War & Desert Storm suvivors being completely left out while they discuss "offsets" for Iraq war survivors.

How about some equity here before we give more benefits to some?

While I understand exactly what you are saying and feeling, what has been pointed out to me over and over is that we still need to support each other. Even though I would not benefit from any of this, nor most of the members of my local Gold Star Wives Chapter, we support it for the few that would.

We all get different benefits dependent on the rules of the road at the time of death. We have members that got $10,000 life insurance and had to struggle to raise the children. We have members that got $200,000 life insurance AND get to sign the SBP to their children, thus receiving VA benefits, SBP, and Social Security.

Yes, fight for equity, but the best way to do this is to raise the benefits for some, and then try to bring the rest of us up. Let's not try to bring them down, just because we don't benefit. Am I making sense?

I am sorry for your loss.

quote:

Originally posted by nancyjmen:
Issue: Congress should repeal the law that reduces military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities by the amount of any survivor benefits payable under the VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) program.

Background: Under current law, the surviving spouse of a retired member who dies of a service-connected cause is entitled to DIC from the Department of Veterans Affairs. If the military retiree was also enrolled in SBP, the surviving spouse's SBP benefits are reduced by the amount of DIC (currently $1067 per month). A pro-rated share of SBP premiums is refunded to the widow upon the member's death in a lump sum, but with no interest. The offset also affects all survivors of members who are killed on active duty. There are approximately 61,000 military widows/widowers affected by the DIC offset.

MOAA believes SBP and DIC payments are paid for different reasons. SBP is purchased by the retiree and is intended to provide a portion of retired pay to the survivor. DIC is a special indemnity compensation paid to the survivor when a member's service causes his or her premature death. In such cases, the VA indemnity compensation should be added to the SBP the retiree paid for, not substituted for it. It's also noteworthy as a matter of equity that surviving spouses of federal civilian retirees who are disabled veterans and die of military-service-connected causes can receive DIC without losing any of their purchased federal civilian SBP benefits.

In the case of members killed on active duty since October 7, 2001, a surviving spouse with children can avoid the dollar-for-dollar offset by assigning SBP to the children. But that forces the spouse to give up any SBP claim after the children attain their majority - leaving the spouse with less than $13000 annual annuity from the VA. Those who give their lives for their country deserve fairer compensation for their surviving spouses.

In each of the last two years, the Senate has passed Sen Bill Nelson's (D-FL) amendment to repeal the SBP-DIC offset in its version of the Defense Authorization Act, only to have the provision dropped in final negotiations with the House.

The estimated cost of this proposed legislation is $9.2 billion over 10 years.

Please click here for a brochure with more facts and figures on the SBP-DIC offset.

MOAA Position: MOAA strongly supports repeal of the DIC offset to SBP, because the two benefits are paid for different reasons and as a matter of equity with federal civil service practices. Enactment is a major MOAA goal for 2007.

Key Bills/Status: Once again Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has introduced a joint SBP-DIC and SBP Paid up bill. The Military Retiree Survivor Equity Act, S.935, would repeal the SBP-DIC offset and move up the effective date of paid-up SBP to 1 Oct. 2007. In the House Representative Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) has introduced H.R.1927, a companion bill to Nelson's S. 935. Also the House Representative Brown (R-SC 1st) introduced H.R. 1589 which repeals the provisions of Title 10 which require the offset of DIC payments from SBP annuities.

The House passed version of the FY07 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes a special $40 monthly "military survivor indemnity allowance" to survivors whose SBP annuities are reduced by VA survivor benefits, beginning on Oct. 1, 2008.

It kind of seems like a slap in the face to see what happened yesterday or the day before. I can't believe it. Here is what I read. Someone tell me it is not true that this is what is going into the NDAA08.

“Expanded Retiree and Survivor Benefits

• Authorizes a monthly payment of $50 to surviving spouses who are denied the full amount of their Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) benefit because of concurrent receipt of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). The amount with be increased to $100 by 2014.”

I could not believe what I had read in the NDAA 2008, Bill H. R. 1585 sec 644, it blew me out of the water. A mere $50.00 a month for the first year with an increase of $10.00 each year, until it reached $100.00...will this even buy baby formula or diapers for the month...I think not! It was truly a slap in the face. My husband died serving our country and he believed the country would do their part and watch over his love ones. Our government had the opportunity to do what was right but instead they insult our intelligence with this bone that has been thrown at us! I am very upset, I was counting on the men and women of Congress to do the right thing and eliminate the "widow tax." Congress should be ashame of themselves. They have failed the widows and widowers of those who died serving this country.

Currently, the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs is considering S. AMDT 4979 to eliminate the SBP/DIC offset in the 2009 National Defwnse Authorization Act. More Senators need to endorse this important, improved ,death benefit in the military system.

Please urge your Senators to do this

Spouse of a Vietnem Veteran

2009 Gold Star Wives Convention held in Laguna Hills July 15-18. Special guest speaker Major General Michael Lehnert.

We just had our convention and have a lot of positive news going forward. So much is going on, but here are a few highlights.

First we had representatives from the VA Dept to talk about the new Survivors Office at the VA. You will notice that the newest VA booklet lists Survivors on the cover.

Second there are many sponsors on board for the SPB/DIC offset bill.

Third we have endorsed the new Honor and Remember flag (please google) and Marie Jordan Speer was awarded one. Please ask your representatives to support the bill to make this a national flag of rememberance.

Fourth the Army has implemented the new Survivor Outreach Services, which is working to put a face with the information and support Families seek after the death of a Soldier.

Replacing impersonal phone calls about benefits and entitlements, the Department of the Army's SOS program will assist Families with everything from advocacy and grief support to Army resources and survivor services using a face-to-face approach.

Offered through Army Community Services, the program is available to all Families that have lost a servicemember, regardless of the circumstances or cause of death.

With the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of the Army recognized the need for services for survivors and is applying lessons learned from the past as they develop the SOS program.

Staff members at SOS work as advocates for survivors, catering to the needs of the Families served. They also provide information regarding benefits and entitlements and links to Army resources.

So much more - please go to the Gold Star Wives website to learn more and please reach out to the surviving families in your area.