by James Glaser
March 15, 2005

Last month President Bush made an offer to raise the death benefit for American troops killed in his War on Terrorism, from the current $12,000, to a proposed $100,000. This sum would be retroactive to October 2001 and cover about 1,600 war deaths from Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Philippines.

Of course we all know that times at tough and so only those killed in a war zone will get the greater amount and those killed in training or an accident while serving in some far off country will only get the original $12,000.

Those who were killed in the World Trade Center attack, got up to several million dollars from the Bush Administration, but those who risk there all to fight in George Bush's wars must not be worth as much.

Minnesota Gold Star Mother, Marcia Herrgott, whose son Jim, 20, was killed in Baghdad by a sniper in July 2003 said in the Minneapolis Star Tribune she didn't think the $12,000 death benefit was enough, as it didn't even cover his funeral expenses.

Many Americans believe that whenever one of our brave young men or women is killed defending this nation, their funeral is covered by our government. After all they were working and on the job when they were killed, but Washington only provides the transportation of the body back home and the parents or the wife or husband is stuck with the funeral expenses.

The $12,000 given at death now or the new proposed $100,000 death benefit is called a "death gratuity." The dictionary says a gratuity is "a gift, usually of money, given in return for services rendered."

I guess that would mean the people killed in the World Trade Center gave a more valuable service to our nation by dying in that terrorist attack, than what our Soldiers and Marines gave when they heard their Nation's call to arms and were killed in George Bush's War.