Pryor takes up Luke's fight

U.S. Senator Mark Pryor is fighting on behalf of an Arkansas Guardsman’s family who lost a dad and husband during a military training weekend at the Fort Chaffee Training Center in northwest Arkansas. He is working to include an amendment to the defense authorization bill that is currently being considered in the Senate to enable this family and others in similar situations to collect death benefits.

Pryor said Captain Samson Luke, 33-years-old of Greenwood, Arkansas, was a committed and decorated active-duty officer who deployed for combat in Iraq twice and continued to serve as an Arkansas Army National Guardsmen. During a required training weekend, Luke was authorized to spend Saturday night with his family at home, twelve miles away from base, and return to the training site the next morning. He passed away that evening, January 10, 2010, leaving behind his wife, Miranda, and four young children. The Army decided that because Captain Luke passed away at home, not on base or at a local hotel, the family is not eligible for the $100,000 death gratuity or funeral expense benefits they would otherwise receive.

“Captain Luke had many options in life. He made a decision to serve his country, and he did so with distinction. In fact, he was awarded the Bronze Star for exemplary service in Iraq. After returning from Iraq, he stayed on to serve in the Guard. And that’s when his country let him down,” Pryor said. “We can do better for our soldiers. We can do better for their families, including Miranda, Miller, Macklin, Larkin and Landis Luke. My measure will not bring back their dad, but it will bring this family the benefits they are entitled to because of their loved one’s service.”

The law states death benefits are allocated if a soldier dies while remaining overnight at or “in the vicinity of the site of the inactive-duty training.” Pryor is seeking to clarify Congress’ intent of the law so service members who live in the area, or “vicinity,” of their training site can return to their home in the evening without losing death benefits. The Arkansas Army National Guard has been supportive in trying to help the Luke family, but the decision is out of their hands. Pryor is hopeful his amendment will be accepted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, legislation which is currently being debated in the Senate.

“I’ve spent over a year now working with the Army and Department of Defense to help this family. We are at a standstill over the interpretation of vicinity and whether it applies to the family’s home just twelve miles away. Had Captain Luke stayed on base or a hotel at taxpayer expense, or been traveling to or from training, the family would have received the benefits,” Pryor said. “What it comes down to, I believe, is a bean counter in Washington trying to save the Army money at the expense of this family’s well-being.”