DUE to the corruption of the neo-nazi fascist drumpf/trump-vance administration, especially fascist fotze trunt Sec of Defense petie lola hegseth and the cowardly members of the gop / greed over people-republican party in congress the families of American military personnel killed while serving in the illegal immoral war on Iran are being short changed by this government and the Pentagon in their compensation for the deaths of their loved ones. The reason? The majority controlling congress, the war mongering, war profiteering republican party has prevented passage of legislation that would require the draft dodging c-i-c bone spurs drumpf/trump to get a declaration of war on Iran from congress to make this quagmire he has us in "legal". There aren't civil words to describe how vile this is. NOT MY vp vance's intervention isn't because he wants to do the right thing, if he wanted to do what is right he would have been publicly opposed to this illegal and immoral war when it started. Neo-nazi fascist fotze trunt vp vance is looking to the 2028 presidential election and how his pledge to help Mrs Klinner and family will make him look good. One thing is certain, whatever he is able to arrange for the Klinner family has to be available for the families of every service person killed in this conflict with Iran, and he also has to make sure no military personnel wounded in this conflict are denied treatment and care and support just because this administration, this congress never declared war on Iran. AND for those who question where the money to take care of our troops and their families is going to come from here is a suggestion. Take it from the commit genocide, commit war crimes, commit crimes against humanity funds for the Israeli "Defense" Forces and their criminal gangs of illegal settlers in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem and the genocidal, war crimes and crimes against humanity I"D"F actions in Gaza and Lebanon. These from the Daily Express and Military Times.....
Widow of airman killed in Epic Fury denied death benefits as Iran conflict ‘is not a war’
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.
The aircraft he'd been in had been in “friendly” airspace while supporting operations against Iran, according to US Central Command. "So not only was my husband killed in a war he never wanted to participate in, but now the benefits we're left with are being dictated by semantics and public perception," Libby added in the post, which featured a video of her cradling one of their babies.
Although conflict with Iran has now reached the six-month mark, Congress hasn't officially declared war. "6 months of a war that we can’t call a war," Libby captioned the post.
"No one joins to military because they want to go to war. Service members don’t enjoy being deployed. They chose to defend their country knowing they could be sent to war but hoping they won’t be. They also join with the assumption that a war would be the last resort, which was not the case in Iran," she added.
Libby said she was told by her Casualty Assistance Officer that there are additional benefits that cannot be given because the Iran conflict has not been declared a war. "The missing benefits are combat pay-related and were missing from his final paycheck," she said.
In an update on Tuesday, the grieving wife revealed that after receiving a huge response to her initial post, the director of mortuary affairs reached out to her and said they are initiating an audit of her benefits to "ensure we receive all that we are entitled to."
An Air Force spokesperson said officials spoke with Libby "to ensure she is receiving all eligible benefits she and her family are entitled to, as well as ensure all her questions are fully addressed."
"We understand this matter has been difficult for Mrs. Klinner and her family, and we are committed to addressing her concerns with care and respect," the spokesperson said. "We remain committed to providing clear information and continued support to Mrs. Klinner, as well as all the families of the Airmen who died in the KC-135 crash."
Vance pledges to help airman’s widow after online backlash exposed benefit gaps
Vice President JD Vance said the administration would work toward giving the widow of a deceased airman killed during the war in Iran the additional military benefits allotted to families of service members killed during combat.
Libby Klinner, the wife of Alex Klinner, turned to social media to share the story of her husband’s passing and the struggles her family was facing in receiving certain additional benefits since the federal government did not officially declare war on Iran.
U.S. Air Force Maj. John “Alex” Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama, was among the six killed on March 12 when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed over western Iraq during combat operations against Iran. Klinner was the chief of Squadron Standardizations and Evaluations within the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, located in Birmingham, Alabama.
He entered the Air Force in 2017 and deployed in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2026 for a range of missions — flying 362 combat hours and 181 combat support hours in theater. His achievements include the Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, Aerial Achievement Medal and Air and Space Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster.
Recently, Libby posted on Instagram that her casualty assistance officer told her that additional combat-related benefits, such as Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay and Combat Zone Tax Exclusions, could not be given to her family because the U.S. has not officially declared war against the Middle East country.
“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 wrote. “So not only was my husband killed in a war he never wanted to participate in, but now the benefits we’re left with are being dictated by semantics and public perceptions.”
In a later post, Libby said that the director of mortuary affairs reached out to her to audit the benefits.
On Thursday, Vance said the administration would reach out to Libby directly to ensure she receives “what she is entitled to.”
“We will certainly work that on the back end,” Vance told reporters in a White House briefing.
Libby did not return a request for comment from Military Times.
Libby has since taken down her personal Instagram with the original posts, but a statement of hers circulated social media on Thursday, saying “classification issues” caused the combat-related benefits to not be available for her family.
“That was the information I shared publicly at the time,” Libby wrote. “As the story spread, however, it created the impression that our family’s military benefits had been broadly denied or withheld, which was not the case.”
She said that the Department of Defense has since completed its review and confirmed her family’s benefits. Libby wrote that the experience highlights how challenging it can be to navigate classifications, terminology and government processes during a time of grief.
“No Gold Star family should have to become an expert in government language to understand what they are entitled to,” she said.
“Getting this right for the families left behind isn’t a footnote—it’s part of how we honor the service and sacrifice of those we lost,” she concluded.
Department of the Air Force officials spoke with Libby on Monday to address her questions and ensure she is receiving all eligible benefits her and her family are entitled to, an Air Force spokesperson told Military Times on Friday.
The spokesperson said that officials confirmed that all eligible combat theater benefits were included in the areas of pay she already received, including Imminent Danger Pay or Hostile Fire Pay and Combat Zone Tax Exclusion benefits.
Alongside other benefits spouses retain, Hostile Fire Pay, at the rate of $225 per month, is given when a service member is killed, injured or wounded by hostile fire, explosion of a mine or other hostile actions. Imminent Danger Pay, $7.50 for each day on official duty in a designated area up to $225 a month, is given when an airman is ordered to fly in an airspace designated as an imminent danger for a mission.
Service members can receive one pay or the other but not both. When a service member is entitled to one form of pay, they may also be eligible for Combat Zone Tax Exclusion, which excludes certain pay from their taxable income.
The Air Force spokesperson did not say which pay the Klinner family is entitled to.
The Department of Defense also provides a one-time, tax-free sum of $100,000 as a Death Gratuity to survivors of members of the armed forces who died while on active duty or in certain statuses.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
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