********************************************
Alumni Sandstorm ~ 5/28/02
********************************************
>>From: Roy Ballard ('63)

I got this from my son, a '90 grad and also an E-7 
aboard the USS Lassen one of the newest destroyers
in the fleet.

http://www.berksweb.com/wwwboard/messages/7636.html

-Roy Ballard ('63)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's a Military Family Worth?

by Rush Limbaugh, http://www.RushLimbaugh.com, March 11, 2002

I think the vast differences in compensation between
the victims of the September 11th casualty, and those
who die serving the country in uniform, are profound.
No one is really talking about it either because you
just don't criticize anything having to do with
September 11th. Well, I just can't let the numbers
pass by because it says something really disturbing
about the entitlement mentality of this country. If
you lost a family member in the September 11th attack,
you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The
range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way
up to $4.7 million. If you are a surviving family
member of an American soldier killed in action, the
first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit,
half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for
burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get
$833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment 
of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the 
child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching 
halt. Keep in mind that some of the people that are 
getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million
are complaining that it's not enough. We also learned 
over the weekend that some of the victims from the 
Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization 
asking for the same deal that the September 11th 
families are getting. In addition to that, some of the 
families of those bombed in the embassies are now 
asking for compensation as well. You see where this is 
going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of 
over fifty years of entitlement politics in this 
country. It's just really sad.

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of
emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a
lifetime." --Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr. Every time when a
pay raise comes up for the military they usually
receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green
machine is in combat in the Middle East while their
families have to survive on food stamps and live in
low rent housing. However our own U.S. Congress just
voted themselves a raise, and many of you don't know
that they only have to be in Congress one-time to
receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month
and most are now equal to be millionaires plus. They
also do not receive Social Security on retirement
because they didn't have to pay into the system. If
some of the military people stay in for 20 years and
get out as an E-7 you may receive a pension of $1,000 
per month, and the very people who placed you in harms 
way receive a pension of $15,000 per month. I would 
like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and 
join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and 
lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now 
fighting.