WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The Pentagon is moving to retroactively increase the death benefit for survivors of soldiers killed in combat to as much as $500,000, the Washington Post said.
"This increase is a recognition that in certain areas of benefit compensation, the support packages for survivors have not been kept up to date," said Bryan Whitman, a senior Pentagon spokesman.
Under the Pentagon plan, a one-time, tax-free "death gratuity" paid to survivors of military men and women killed in the line of duty would rise from $12,420 to $100,000. The government also would increase the limit of life insurance coverage for service members by $150,00 to $400,000.
As of Monday, 1,415 U.S. troops had died in the Iraq conflict and 156 in Afghanistan and other places designated part of the global war on terrorism, the Pentagon said. The cost of covering higher gratuity payments and extra life insurance settlements to relatives of these troops would be about $280 million in retroactive payments, the Defense Department said.
