The government shutdown is denying families of troops killed in combat, training or by other causes in the military from receiving an array of financial benefits.
Families of four soldiers and a Marine killed in Afghanistan since the shutdown last week are not receiving a $100,000 death gratuity or any unpaid income due their loved ones, or being reimbursement for burial expenses, the Pentagon says.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the shutdown, we do not have the legal authority to make death gratuity payments at this time,” says Navy Lt. Com. Nate Christensen, a Pentagon spokesman. . .