Isn’t the child eligible for Social Security benefits as a dependent child whose parent died? There’s no mention of the child’s father in this article, so I’m assuming he is out of the picture and unwilling or unable to provide support. The article also doesn’t say how old the grandparents are. It only says the mother’s paycheck as a Reservist was helping to make ends meet back home. How were they surviving before she was activated and shipped out? It’s a sad thought, but there are people who will abuse a death benefit. I’m not saying these people will do that, but there needs to be a way to guarantee in cases like this, that death benefits are used for the actual support of an orphaned child, and not put in the hands of individuals who will piss it away.