{"id":22677,"date":"2019-04-09T13:35:46","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T13:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/09\/families-of-fallen-guard-reservists-push-for-expanded-scholarship-benefits\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:56:38","slug":"families-of-fallen-guard-reservists-push-for-expanded-scholarship-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/2019\/04\/09\/families-of-fallen-guard-reservists-push-for-expanded-scholarship-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Families of fallen Guard, reservists push for expanded scholarship benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tammy McCracken is supposed to be helping her 16-year-old daughter tour colleges this month, but \u201cshe\u2019s looking at the campuses and all I can look at are the expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her 19-year-old son is already attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, thanks to his father\u2019s post-9\/11 GI Bill benefits<\/a>. But when Col. David McCracken died n 2011 of brain cancer related to an earlier deployment to the Middle East, it left their family with a single income and a host of confusion surrounding his military benefits<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under current law, the children of a service member who dies on active duty are eligible for full college tuition and a living stipend under the John David Fry Scholarship program<\/a>, a generous benefit recognizing their families\u2019 sacrifice and stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the McCracken children aren\u2019t eligible for it, because their father was a member of the Army Reserves when he died. Although his injuries were tied to toxic exposure during an active duty deployment, his symptoms didn\u2019t show until months later. Guardsmen and reservists are held in a different category due to language in the federal code authorizing the scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\t