I agree that the government should be doing more to support the families of soldiers serving in combat which is obviously not being done (which ever country you are from). however, the choice to join the armed forces was down to the individual and to make a commitment such as this (which is a serious commitment) a person will be aware of the consequences of certain situations that may occur and prepare financially for their familiy.

One thing I am confused about in your statement...

How can you take a guy making 2 or 3 thousand a month, send him to Iraq, and expect his family to live on a thousand a month?

how is it that a person takes home 2-3 thousand a month but only a thousand goes home to the family of the serviceman? he/she is not going to need the cash in the war zone so where is the soldier/pilot/sailors money going if that is the case??

Klep.

how is it that a person takes home 2-3 thousand a month but only a thousand goes home to the family of the serviceman? he/she is not going to need the cash in the war zone so where is the soldier/pilot/sailors money going if that is the case??

Not what I meant. What I meant was, how you take a guy away from his 2 or 3 thousand a month job and ship him out to war and pay him a grand a month and expect the family to survive.

Granted, service is voluntary. However, it takes a pretty big person to stick their necks out like that. We, as a country should pull together to help em out.

Also, every penny donated goes to the help. There are no administrative costs. When you donate to the red-cross, up to 40% of your donation goes to administration costs. Not here. EVERY penny goes to the help. A very worth-while cause.

I was watching something yesterday on CNN showing troops that got things blown off and saw that they had some expensive artificial limbs. Who pays for these things? It better be the damn government because if not thats just F-ed up!

I think the ones that are handicapped for life receive "benefits" for life. Certainly not enough though. Thanks George

The government does pay disability, all soldiers have free medical while on active duty, and afterwards recieve a percentage of their monthly pay based on how badly they were injured. Also, being on active duty myself, and about to go to iraq, i have to correct your figure. Even the lowest ranking guys are pulling down about 2500 to 3000 a month with the special pays and tax exemption so while their families may have to go without some of the luxuries they were enjoying before they are far from being in danger of falling below the poverty level. Even though i dont necessarily think that most soldiers need any extra compensation for fulfilling the obligations they agreed to when they joined, Im sure that its much appreciated by those it helps.

What branch are you in, that pays that much? I was under the impression that it is much much lower. Oh well, I could be wrong, but nonetheless, this is a good site.

Good luck....

on the family note...that's rough. always has been. in the navy you get an automatic 50k to your family if you die (or did when I was in). you can up it a bunch (upwards of 200k). but most of the kids I knew when I was in were sending 90% of their pay to their family.