The widow of an Alabama airman has revealed she and her children are not eligible for some benefits because the Iran war has not officially been declared a war

The widow of an Alabama airman killed during Operation Epic Fury has revealed that she and her children have been denied some of the benefits that bereaved family members are usually entitled to because the Iran war has not been declared an official war.

“The Air Force recently told me that because we haven’t officially declared war, my kids and I aren’t eligible for some benefits,” Libby Klinner, the wife of the late US Air Force Major John “Alex” Klinner, wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday.

Alex Klinner, 33, had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the refueling aircraft he was aboard crashed in Iraq in March, killing him and five others. He left behind his wife, their 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son.

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.worldEnglish
    642·
    4 days ago

    They lie to you to get you to sign up. Then they fuck you over the entire time you serve. Then they fuck you over after you die for them.

    • geneva_convenience@lemmy.mlOP
      283·
      4 days ago

      At this point, anyone who doesn’t have a literal mental disability knows what the US military is doing and willingly signs up for it.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
        5·
        3 days ago

        There’s a reason they run drives at high schools for children, and it’s not because they’re better at understanding the long term consequences of their decisions.

          • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
            1·
            3 days ago

            Exactly! It’d probably be better in some ways if everyone got to wait until adulthood to determine whether and which puberty they go through, but logistically that’d be awful. I’m cool with the civilized approach of only giving puberty blockers to people who want them, without making them jump through hoops, even though I didn’t realize that I didn’t want the puberty my organs wrought until after I’d gone through it.

    • Kirp123@lemmy.world
      15·
      4 days ago

      I mean this has been the case for a long time now. For all the “support the troops” performative bullshit that American politicians do they treat their soldiers and veterans pretty badly. They know that there will always be desperate young men and women that will sign up. I honestly think that one of the reasons the US refuses to implement public healthcare and free education is that it will cut into their supply of recruits.

      • degen@midwest.socialEnglish
        51·
        4 days ago

        What’s wild to me is that a single vet can come out unjaded, wool and all

        Going from one look at Vietnam, seeing hell, then to Iraq and Afghanistan is surreal. It’s like a generational disconnect was kicked off with 9/11

        • mycodesucks@lemmy.world
          8·
          4 days ago

          Vietnam was drafted soldiers, so you got a whole slice of every type of person.

          After the draft ended, it was strictly volunteers, so it’s exclusively the true-believer, Starship Troopers patriots. Even if they come out with problems, they’re less likely to blame the military for it.

          • Zannsolo@lemmy.world
            31·
            4 days ago

            That’s not true in the slightest. Lots of people from poor families join because it’s probably the best way out of poverty. Once of my good friends who’s very left leaning joined did his service and then used the college benefits to get a career.