WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army will grant to the family of Capt. Samson Luke death benefits that had been denied the Greenwood family on a technicality.
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said Wednesday he has received “verbal notification” that the Greenwood family won their appeal before the Army Board of Corrections for Military Records. After the papers are processed, widow Miranda Luke and her four children will receive a death gratuity payment and burial expense reimbursements, Pryor said.
A defense authorization bill that awaits presidential approval includes a provision to make sure reservists who die while on weekend training receive the $100,000 death benefits. Luke, who received a Bronze Star for exemplary service in Iraq, joined the Arkansas National Guard after retiring from active duty in 2007.
He died midway through a training exercise at Fort Chaffee during one of the coldest weekends in 2010. The temperature was in the single digits that morning with winds averaging 12 miles per hour in Fort Smith. After spending most of Saturday at Fort Chaffee, Luke was given permission to go home to Greenwood for the evening, about a 12-mile drive away, to his wife and four young children. He was expected to return Sunday for the remainder of the training but died that evening.
The Army initially informed his widow that she would receive a $100,000 death gratuity and up to $8,000 in funeral costs. But soon after Luke was buried, the Army’s casualty and mortuary affairs branch denied the benefits, saying that his death did not occur “in the vicinity” of the inactive-duty training facility as the law required. While the defense authorization bill passed by Congress would grant benefits for families facing similar circumstances in the future, it is not retroactive. However, the Army was under intense pressure from Pryor and others to provide the Luke family with the benefits.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Gen. Craig R. McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, sent a letter on Aug. 30 to the Army board responsible for deciding death benefits urging it to “do the right thing by this family.” In his letter of support, McKinley told the board that immediately after Luke died an Army representative informed Miranda Luke that she would receive the death gratuity and other benefits. Once informed, she turned down the burial offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs and paid for the funeral out of pocket. She was also informed that her immediate family would be reimbursed the cost of travel to the funeral.
“Having met with the family, I’m convinced Mrs. Luke would not have incurred many of the expenses she incurred but for the Department’s guarantees. Accordingly, I would respectfully ask that the Department do the right thing by this family and ensure that they receive the $100,000 Death Gratuity,” McKinley wrote.
Earlier in August, the adjutant general of the Arkansas National Guard wrote McKinley asking him to support Luke’s appeal. Maj. Gen. William Wofford said in the memorandum that Luke “presents a most compelling case that warrants justice and merits compassion.”
Wofford noted that the Army board issued its final decision before an autopsy and a National Guard report were available. The National Guard investigation found that Luke died in the line of duty. “I thoroughly endorse and approve the LOD findings that Captain Luke’s strenuous service under freezing temperatures brought upon his untimely death,” Wofford wrote.