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Civilian
Entitlement and Military Wages I’m not a
Rush Limbaugh fan, but he did bring up an issue the other day that I
certainly agree with. If you are a
family member of a victim of the September 11 terrorist attack, you're going
to get an average of $1,185,000 in compensation. The range is a minimum
guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million. Some of them are complaining that this
isn’t enough. Recently the victims of
the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for similar
compensation. 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. You get $1,750 for burial
costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you
remarry, with a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. These
payments end when the child turns 18.
A US military member who stays in 20 years and gets out as an E7 may
receive a pension of $1000 per month.
Salary increases for military personnel are few and far between. Some military families in the US and Canada
live in low-rent housing and require food stamps to survive. We all mourn
the loss of the innocent victims of the 9-11 attack. I don’t mean to minimize this in any way,
but with the exception of the heroic emergency services personnel involved,
most died because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Soldiers and emergency services personnel put themselves in harms way FOR ALL
OF US ALL THE TIME, knowing the danger that they face. Their families are well aware of this too. I agree with
Limbaugh that we should all write to our members of Congress or Parliament
and demand higher wages for military personnel. They deserve better compensation for their
on going efforts to keep us all safe. |
Entitlements/First Pagan Chaplain
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e-mail: webmaster@officersofavalon.com |
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To contact us: |
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Compensation for families of 9-11 victims
ranges between $250,000 to $1.85 million. |
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Dispatches: Volume 1 No. 6 Samhain/Calan Gaef/Einherjar 2006 |
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First Pagan Police Chaplain Former Officer of Avalon Treasurer Bob “Guardian”
Engborg is in the news again. Last
issue we told you how he’d been elected to the Daytona North Development
Committee. Now he tells us that he’s
just become a police chaplain for the City of Daytona Beach. He’ll be
the first Pagan police chaplain in North America. “I'm still waiting for my Chaplin ID card,”
Bob tells us, “but I have been to a meeting with the chief and deputy chief
and the other Chaplain's have voted me in to be the instructor for police
Chaplain classes.” Guardian should be
starting classes right after attending the Florida Pagan Gathering in
November. Daytona Beach PD used to
have a full time, paid Chaplain but the new chief terminated him. The
termination was based on a budget issue. The Chaplain had been getting
about $55,000.00 a year and had a take home car. The chief has replaced
him a group of local ministers who are all non-paid volunteers.
Currently they are working on by-laws for their police Chaplain group. Guardian is looking for any copies of
manuals or bylaws for other police Chaplain groups as a reference. If any of you out there can help him out
please contact the editor and well pass it along. |
