May 27—WASHINGTON—When Pat, a Purple Heart recipient, contacted U.S. Senator Sen. Patty Murray When he told her in November that he couldn’t transfer his GI bill benefits to his children, he didn’t expect any action from Congress to fix the problem.
He simply wanted to notify the Washington state Democrat, he told States Newsroom in an exclusive interview.
With a child about to go to college, Pat, who did not want his last name used, had recently been told by the Army that he could not transfer his education benefits to them because he received the Purple Heart after was medically discharged. . This rule does not apply to those who receive the medal while still in service.
Murray and Thom Tillisa Republican from North Carolina, introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday to close this loophole.
The legislation, titled the Purple Heart Veterans Education Act, would retroactively allow award recipients who served on or after September 11, 2001 to transfer their education benefits to one or more dependents. It was unveiled just before Memorial Day, when the country honors its deceased service members.
“As the daughter of a Purple Heart recipient, I have seen firsthand the tremendous sacrifices Purple Heart veterans make to defend our freedoms, and I strongly believe that we must do absolutely everything we can to help all veterans and help their families thrive,” Murray said in a statement Thursday.
“It makes no sense that service members who receive a Purple Heart after their service cannot transfer their GI benefits to their dependents, while those who receive them during their service can – and I am grateful to Pat, my constituent, in Washington State, which brought this loophole to my attention,” continued Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
“Our legislation will close this loophole and ensure that more children of Purple Heart veterans can continue their education. I want to thank Senator Tillis for his cooperation on this legislation and I will work hard to get it into law to get.”
Error in education benefits
Pat was medically discharged from the U.S. Army and retroactively awarded a Purple Heart for his actions during Iran’s January 2020 retaliatory missile fire on an air base in Iraq after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
The Army later approved 39 Purple Hearts for service members who experienced the attack, according to a December 2021 report from the Army Times.
While his teen plans to enroll at Central Washington University next year, Pat learned that under the law, his education benefits would only be available for transfer if he had received the award while still employed.
“My thought was, ‘I doubt the lawmakers would have done that intentionally.’ I just thought, you know, people probably haven’t thought about how that happens – that some people get Purple Hearts retroactively, or that, for whatever reason, they’re delayed in being evaluated,” Pat said in a telephone interview.
“I didn’t think much would happen, but I just wanted to write to Senator Murray, my local senator, and let her know about the issue. They responded by saying, ‘That’s a mistake on our part, and we want to make it right. ”
Pat said he is “grateful for Senator Murray” and hopes his action can help other Purple Heart veterans. For now, his family is continuing with the college enrollment process for his child, he said.
Benefits and dependents
Under provisions in the legislation, Murray and Tillis’ bill would also allow veterans to split 36 months of benefits among each of their dependents. For example, they can transfer 20 months to one and 16 months to the other.
If passed, the bill would also prohibit the benefits from being treated as marital or matrimonial property.
And the bill would give survivors access to unused benefits if their veteran family member dies.
“Purple Heart recipients are heroes who have served our country honorably at great cost, and this oversight that prevents service members who received this post-service award from transferring their GI Bill benefits to their dependents must be corrected immediately,” Tillis said in a statement. Thursday.
“I am proud to join Senator Murray in introducing this common-sense legislation to close this loophole and ensure that every Purple Heart recipient and dependents can continue their education,” Tillis continued , who also serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
The number of veterans who retroactively received the Purple Heart after their service after September 11 is unclear. According to an informal analysis provided to Murray’s office by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill will cost an estimated $500,000 in mandatory spending over 10 years.
The bill has received praise from veterans groups, including the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
“Unfortunately, each veteran’s service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States of America is not fully recognized while still in uniform,” Allison Jaslow, CEO of IAVA and an Iraq war veteran, said in a statement Thursday.
“The Purple Heart Veterans Education Act ensures that veterans who suffered physical injuries on behalf of our nation, but were not recognized for it until after their service ended, can turn that recognition into an investment in the education of their loved ones. the ones.”
More Purple Heart Recipients
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have “greatly increased” the number of Purple Heart recipients as the Defense Department added a number of traumatic brain injuries as a recognized requirement for the award, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
It wasn’t until a 2017 law that Purple Heart recipients could receive full post-9/11 GI Bill benefits regardless of length of service. Previously, recipients were required to have 36 months of active duty service.
Under the CRS, the Ministry of Defense does not keep a record of the number of recipients, but by law it does maintain a publicly accessible list with the permission of the veteran or surviving relatives.
Military historians and the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor estimate that approximately 1.8 million Purple Hearts have been awarded since 1932. The Army Historical Foundation estimated as of 2016 that 30,000 Purple Hearts had been awarded since 2001. The CRS cited this statistic.
