{"id":55536,"date":"2020-07-20T20:31:03","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T20:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/20\/some-gold-star-orphans-left-without-any-military-assistance-under-current-benefits-rules\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:48:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:48:46","slug":"some-gold-star-orphans-left-without-any-military-assistance-under-current-benefits-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/2020\/07\/20\/some-gold-star-orphans-left-without-any-military-assistance-under-current-benefits-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Gold Star orphans left without any military assistance under current benefits rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2020\/05\/25\/memorial-day-survival-tips-for-gold-star-families\/\" target=_blank>Gold Star wife<\/a> Cheryl Lankford was diagnosed with cancer, she spent the final few months of her life working to make sure that military health and financial benefits for her 15-year-old son, Jonathan Jr., wouldn\u2019t die with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf she hadn\u2019t done that, I wouldn\u2019t have known where to start,\u201d said Erika Alleyne, Lankford\u2019s sister and now Jonathan\u2019s legal guardian. \u201cI was aware of some of the benefits and paperwork. But I would not have been able to get through it all on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the son of a fallen soldier \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefallen.militarytimes.com\/army-command-sgt-maj-jonathan-m-lankford\/3059819\" target=_blank>Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan Lankford Sr<\/a>. died of a heart attack in Iraq in 2007 \u2014 Jonathan Jr. is eligible for military health care, survivors payouts, education assistance and other Defense Department benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When his father died, the Army sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/ask-us\/faq\/Article\/1777508\/how-does-the-us-military-inform-the-surviving-family-of-the-death-of-a-service\/\" target=_blank>casualty assistance officer<\/a> to their house to help sort through all the confusing and copious paperwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when Cherly died in May, no such assistance was offered. Since she was not an active military member, defense officials had no requirement to send assistance to help the orphaned minor, even though his mother\u2019s death cut off his access to all of those military benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/04\/23\/heres-what-grieving-military-families-can-teach-civilians-dealing-with-coronavirus-tragedy\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/195710.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Here\u2019s what grieving military families can teach civilians dealing with coronavirus tragedy<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors is reminding families \u2014 both military and civilian \u2014 that grief is a normal and acceptable response to hardships.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a daunting challenge in the midst of all that grief to even know what questions to ask,\u201d said Bonnie Carroll, president and founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program For Survivors. \u201cThese families have already sacrificed so much for this country. We have to find a way to be there for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TAPS leaders have partnered with a pair of lawmakers \u2014 Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn. \u2014 to add a provision to the House\u2019s draft of the annual defense authorization bill mandating that military officials provide some transition assistance to orphans like Jonathan Jr. to ensure another tragedy doesn\u2019t block them from receiving family military benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The measure, named for Cheryl Lankford, is expected to be voted on as part of the broader defense budget measure later this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe always seem to find enough resources to send our men and women in uniform into harm\u2019s way, and I\u2019m on a mission to ensure that taking care of those who return, and the families of those who do not, is given equal priority,\u201d said Phillips, whose own father was killed in action during the Vietnam War when the congressman was still an infant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese families \u2014 these children \u2014 have made unimaginable sacrifices. They deserve our respect and our support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TAPS officials estimate that fewer than a dozen individuals a year will qualify for the new mandate, since losing both parents is a relatively rare tragedy. The language is broad, allowing defense officials to determine how to best reach out to families that might be affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the casualty assistance program already exists, adding just a few more eligible survivors should not create any significant new costs, advocates argue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But for the family members affected, the help could be life changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ashlynne Haycock, deputy director of policy and legislation for TAPS, was only 10 years old when her father, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Haycock, died in 2002 while training to deploy to Iraq. Her mother, an Air Force veteran, died by suicide nine years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because her mother was no longer in the service at the time of her death, the family received no assistance in shifting their benefits over to her younger brother, just 14 at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI know he didn\u2019t get everything he deserved,\u201d she said. \u201cThe family who took him in didn\u2019t know everything about the military benefits at the time. They ended up paying for things out of pocket they shouldn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/02\/big-pay-raise-limits-on-troop-moves-highlight-defense-budget-measure\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"219\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6256340.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Big pay raise, limits on troop moves highlight defense budget measure<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The  $740.5 billion defense authorization bill passed the House Armed Services Committee with bipartisan support.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the Lankfords\u2019 case, Cheryl was an experienced advocate with close ties to TAPS determined her son wouldn\u2019t face the same obstacles. Contacts in the military and veteran community have added extra assistance in recent weeks since her passing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Caroll said few families have those kinds of advantages, and the military needs to help make sure that kind of unique community support isn\u2019t a prerequisite to helping them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is just the right thing to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alleyne said for now, she and Jonathan Jr. are adjusting to life without Cheryl. Not having to worry about his benefits has allowed them some extra time and peace of mind to grieve her loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s doing well amid all the chaos in our lives,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re just taking it one day at a time, getting everything we can control under control.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new proposal would mandate military provide casualty assistance officers to dependents lose both of their 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Some Gold Star orphans left without any military assistance under current benefits rules - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new proposal would mandate military provide casualty assistance officers to dependents lose both of their parents.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Some Gold Star orphans left without any military assistance under current benefits rules\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new proposal would mandate military provide casualty assistance officers to dependents lose both of their parents.\" \/>\n<meta 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