Posted on 03/19/2003 10:24:26 AM PST by EveningStar
She was the only Orange County woman to lose her husband in '91 campaign.
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Carol Bentzlin remembered ordering pizza after watching news about a battle in Kafji, Saudi Arabia, a border town where seven Marines were killed in battle with Iraqi forces. The pizzas were an extravagance for her family, living at Camp Pendleton on a Marine's pay – a celebration that ended with a knock at the door. Three solemn Marines walked into her living room. One read a statement held with shaking hands.
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The Pentagon later said the crew was struck by a Maverick missile from an American A-10 attack plane. Bentzlin and families of other victims sued the missile's manufacturer, Hughes Aircraft Co., but the case was dismissed after the federal government argued that the litigation threatened military secrets.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.ocregister.com ...
Well, that settles it. Let's call the whole thing off.
Yeah but will they ever marry?
She got a $50,000 death benefit and continues to receive a $963 monthly pension. It doesn't seem like much for a life.
What # husband was the Marine who died?
The Bentzlins married in 1989, seven months after a first encounter at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. She was 26, recovering from a failed marriage. Her three children lived with an ex-husband.
I'm sorry she lost her husband, but she seems a little odd, especially if a pizza was such a strain on the budget.
She got a $50,000 death benefit and continues to receive a $963 monthly pension. It doesn't seem like much for a life.
"What # husband was the Marine who died?"
Why does it matter what number he was?
This man was married to this woman, he paid the ultimate price, and so did she (family wise). I could care less what she is doing right now and with whom, as long as it is not illegal. As one military spouse to another former military spouse, she has my deepest respect for what she went thru and with dealing with this tragic part of her past.
Also, if you cannot understand how pizza can be a strain on an enlisted mans monthly budget, fine. But when our wives and husbands leave, our bills stay they same AND we have to send supplies and money with the soldiers when they deploy. And often the wartime "entitlements" do not cover it. But regardless it doesn't make it "odd". We still have Seargents that can qualify for food stamps for cripes sake.
< sarcasm> Mental note to myself - If my Husband dies during this conflict don't talk to the press, I wouldn't want anyone critiquing or criticizing my family life, which is none of their business and not at issue with said (possible)article. < /sarcasm>
I would assume that those problems were corrected since my days in the USAF, maybe I'm wrong.
---max
However, she filed a frivilous lawsuit.
We are hours away from an invasion on Iraq, and you choose to make jokes about a woman who lost her military husband in the last Iraq conflict? Your support for our troops and their families are dually noted.
Really now, any type of behaviour or treatment? Would you like a pile of stones with that statement?
LOL, they qualify.... which means there is a set standard of what income level needs this assistance. Which translates into these families needing them. Some people are to proud to accept them, it how ever does not mean they do not need them.
Of course, it's a handy tool for those who like to paint military families as victims.
Really? So any person affiliated with the military that wants to change the current pay scales to get these families off of government support is painting them as victims and not soldiers that deserve more pay to AT LEAST not qualify for government support for all of the sacrifices they give to this country?
Some of them do just fine on their modest salaries, honorably serving their country without whining about the pay.
Yes some of us do. But ALL deserve basic pay to cover the modest of lifestyles.(and I am not talking about computers, sneakers or eating out all of the time.) And some of us also stand up for the junior enlisted who tend not to have a voice. Change does not occur by keeping silent. OUR "ENTIRE' MILITARY DESERVES THE MINIMUM of pay, not just "some". No one said they deserved to get rich from their service, but certainly no soldier deserves to live below the poverty line with proper budgeting and because of their service to our country either.
It's not like the pay scale is any secret, before one joins the military.
Sure, recruiters tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The system should be changed for our soldiers. You say they shouldn't join, or get out, why? If the system is good enough according to you. In the late 90's we observed a shortage in military staffing due to soldiers being treated poorly. (financially)
Sure, it could be better, a lot better, but making a point about the supposedly high cost of pizza was a silly and transparent play for sympathy.
Funny, I thought she was giving an account of her day up until the moment she found out her husband died. A fact is a fact, should she have left that out?
This lady lost her husband, that is sad, but she shouldn't be a poster spouse for the military.
Well that's a given, she wasn't blaming the source of her problem in this situation. I am not defending her. But whether or not she qualifies for the position, does not give anyone the right to cheapen what her and her family went thru when he died.
From this article at least, the husband who was killed seemed like a decent and honorable Marine who loved his wife and step children.
Well at least your finally showing some sort of respect for a fallen soldier? It's just to bad "some" can't honor his memory without making uncalled for remarks about his wife's present situation. I don't care if she is a liberal peacenik, what she went thru was horrorible, and she deserves some respect. His memory deserves more respect that questioning her morals.
But what I take more issue with is the timing of this article, and by the timing of people who claim to support the military and their families, in making these statements. Do you not realize how many military families, wives and husbands frequent FreeRepublic that may have immediate family members in harms way at this exact moment???? If this is the message you want to send to us fine. Like I said it is dually noted.
If she's living with a guy on a permanent enough arrangement to take in 5 foster children, yet is not married to him, then it strongly suggests that the $963 monthly pension has something to do with it... money which wasn't meant to help support subsequent foster kids with some other guy. They surely get money for that anyway.
Like I said I could care less what this woman is doing right now. Whether she invests the money or spends it on cigarettes every month is none of anyone's concern. It's the timing of comments, and this article.
If she wanted her story told, then she [and others] should be able to accept that people will have varying responses.
Your right in a sense. It is your right to degrade someone and their lifestyle and question someone's morals you do not know, and make light of someone's death by doing it. You know, I am pretty much use to the gallows humor here at FreeRepublic, but you should be ashamed at your timing of the criticism towards military families, and what message this sends to military families on this day in particular.
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