PenaltyA Survivor’s


An unfair law costs the families of those who paid the ultimate sacrifi ce $15,000 annually.


Here’s how it’s hurting them. By Senior Staff Writer Gina Harkins


S


USIE BRODEUR WAS LIVING IN ALASKA WITH HER 3- AND 7-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN when her husband, Air Force Maj. David Brodeur, was killed in an insider attack during a 2011 deployment to Afghanistan.


After Major Brodeur’s death, Susie moved her family to her home state of Colorado, away from their military network in Alaska. She saved up to buy a house and has been raising her children as a single parent ever since. Money can be tight, she says. With her


children still coping with their dad’s death, Brodeur is careful not to work too many hours. But the loss of her husband’s income was a big adjustment, she says.


“It was scary not knowing where that next dol-


lar [was] going to come from,” Brodeur says. Military spouses who lose a servicemember


on active duty and some spouses of retirees who die from service-connected illnesses or injuries receive a monthly benefi t payment called Dependency and Indemnity Compensa- tion (DIC) from the VA. (The tax-free payment comes out to about $1,258 per month.) Spouses also can receive Survivor Benefi t Plan (SBP)


APRIL 2017 MILITARY OFFICER 59


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