Oct 23, 2006 By Alison Hawkes For The 3 min read

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania voters will be asked to approve a $20 million bond measure in November to compensate Persian Gulf combat veterans 16 years after the war. The measure would give veterans in all military branches, reserve, and guard units who were from Pennsylvania during the August 2, 1990, to August 31, 1991, war a onetime check to honor their service.

Proponents say the measure is a matter of fairness since Pennsylvania voters have chosen to compensate veterans in five military ventures dating back to the Spanish-American War in 1934.

“Every war we’ve had has been compensated and all of them have been through referenda,” said Rep. Neal Goodman, a Schuylkill County Democrat, the prime legislative sponsor of the measure.

The amount would equal $75 per month of combat, up to $525 for veterans, and $5,000 for a prisoners of war as well as survivors of veterans who died during the war or from a war-related injury or disease. Veterans would apply for the money through their county veterans and military affairs department.

About 32,800 veterans and families would be eligible, including one prisoner of war and 27 killed in action, according to Goodman. Pennsylvania sustained the highest number of casualties in the war than any other state because the barracks of a Greensburg unit was hit with a scud missal on February 25, 1991. Thirteen members of the 14th Quartermaster U.S. Army Reserve detachment died and 42 were wounded.

This is the second attempt at getting Persian Gulf veterans compensated. Voters turned down a 1993 initiative because the wording was confusing and it asked for spending in other areas, said Goodman.

“Besides the fairness issue, many of our veterans when they go from civilian to military jobs there is a reduction in income and this is in a small way helps compensate for the financial difficulties they have faced,” Goodman said.

Kit Watson, the adjutant for the Pennsylvania American Legion, said it’s about time that legislators turned the issue over to voters again. Though voters may sour at the $20 million price tag, Watson noted that the compensation amounts, adjusted to inflation, have not kept pace. Vietnam veteran’s receipt of up to $750 was actually more.

The $10 per month of service veterans from the Spanish-American War received is equal to $150 today, compared to the $75 per month Gulf War veterans would get under this measure.

“To me it’s not so much them money,” Watson said. “But I think it’s more in keeping with what’s done in the past and we owe our warriors no less than the same recognition.”

Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or ahawkes@calkins-media.com.