Bragg: More being done to aid spouses of fallen - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Bragg: More being done to aid spouses of fallen

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The Army has drastically increased its outreach and support for surviving spouses since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the post commander said.

Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, told reporters Wednesday that he still remembers the first time he served as a casualty assistance officer in 1994. One of his men was killed in a training accident in Italy, and officials didn’t know how long the surviving spouse’s benefits would last or how long they could stay in military housing.

That has changed with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Since 2001, the military has drastically increased benefits and allow widows to keep military housing for one year and health care for three years. They also receive almost $500,000 in benefits.

Thirteen Fort Bragg soldiers have died in combat in July, continuing what is becoming a deadly summer for coalition forces in Afghanistan. Military officials say 57 American service members have died in Afghanistan in July. The Bragg casualties soldiers were from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team and the 20th Engineer Brigade’s 27th Engineer Battalion.

Helmick said July has been a hard month. He or one of his generals attends the funeral of every Fort Bragg-based soldier killed. He said each one is hard and each one he will remember forever. But, he said, the family always thanks him.

“They say, ‘General, my son died doing what he loved to do. He died being a soldier,’ ” Helmick said. “And that gives me a little bit of comfort.”

The Defense Department said June was the deadliest month for coalition troops in Afghanistan since the war started in 2001. Of the 104 coalition troops killed, 60 were from the U.S.

Fort Bragg has lost almost more than 370 soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“It is one of thing that I have done that never gets easier. You become a part of someone’s worst nightmare,” said Col. Larry McCarty, a chaplain who serves in the 82nd Airborne Division. He said he has lost count of how many funerals and notifications he has done.

Fort Bragg is one of 35 casualty assistance centers in the Army and handles all soldiers killed in North Carolina. The center helps a soldier’s family with paperwork and benefits, and trains officers to help families and break the news of a soldier’s death. All soldiers sergeant first class and above must go through the two-day training so they can help the families of fallen soldiers.

“It is one of the hardest duties I have to do,” said Sgt. 1st Class Felix Serra, who has been in the Army 17 years and has been a casualty assistance officer several times.

Besides training casualty assistance officers, the post has created volunteer care and comfort support teams to help widows with everything from walking the dog to washing dishes, and built a support center dedicated to surviving spouses.

Fort Bragg has almost 2,000 surviving spouses, parents and children in its database, and formed Fort Bragg Survivor Outreach Services to help widows find a community where they feel comfortable.