U.S. Still Making Payments to Relatives of Civil War Vets The U.S. government spends over $40 billion a year to compensate veterans and their family members for service in conflicts as far back as the Civil War. According to an analysis conducted by the Associated Press, the costs of veteran compensation for previous wars are as follows: • $12 billion a year for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the first Persian Gulf War • $22 billion a year for Vietnam • $5 billion a year for World War II • $2.8 billion for the Korean War • $20 million...