WASHINGTON — When the Army honorably discharged Jason Hubbard of Fresno, Calif., last year after his two younger brothers died in the Iraq war, he lost his transitional health insurance, access to school grants under the G.I. Bill, and his ability to participate in the veterans home loan program.
Now, the 65-year-old statutory loophole that allowed that to happen is closed.
President Bush on Friday signed into law the aptly named Hubbard Act, which secures the benefits of “sole survivor” veterans who are honorably discharged after the death of a parent or sibling also serving in the military.
“From beginning to end, this has been a very rough experience,” Hubbard said after the signing at the White House.
Under the Department of Defense’s “sole survivor” policy, service members who lose all their siblings in war cannot be reassigned to combat zones and will be discharged from the military upon request.
The policy was enacted after the widely publicized deaths of the five Sullivan brothers in World War II, which later inspired the movie “Saving Private Ryan.”
Intended to protect families from losing all their children in war, the outdated policy also led to something of a Catch-22 in certain circumstances. Veterans who were honorably discharged as “sole survivors” before the end of their contracts were denied significant benefits they would otherwise have been entitled to if they had completed their tours.
The bipartisan bill waives payback of enlistment bonuses and allows for transitional health care and access to the G.I. Bill and other veterans programs. It is effective retroactively to Sept. 11, 2001.
