By Cristina Johnson
Behind every service member is a family that serves, too – they carry the steady effort of emotional support through active duty and the return to civilian life. And when a veteran develops an illness tied to their time in service, that load only grows.
Furthermore, when a service member dies, the burden doesn’t end with the funeral, the flag-folding ceremony or a day of national remembrance. The family left behind continues to live with that loss while finding a way to move forward.
On September 27, the nation observes Gold Star Mothers and Families Day, honoring the mothers, fathers, spouses and children who have lost a loved one in military service. Even if it’s a meaningful way of recognition, when the flags are folded, the speeches are finished and everyone goes home, the loss remains. And Gold Star families live with that loss day by day.
That reality should encourage us to look beyond the ceremony and ask: what support and recognition do these families deserve in the years and decades that follow?
In Los Angeles County, that question is deeply personal. Military service runs through the community’s history, and the county remembers more than 12,200 Gold Star veterans whose lives were given in service to our country. Additionally, over 35,000 veterans call San Fernando Valley home, while across California, approximately 1.3 million veterans live in the state’s communities. Nationally, the number is nearly 15.7 million. Supporting the families left behind should be an ongoing part of how we honor military service – not something we remember only when the ceremony has ended.
Service members’ families often carry a heavy, invisible burden long before a loved one is lost, as many veterans develop illnesses tied to toxic exposures during service, including Agent Orange, asbestos, PFAS, VOCs and other toxic substances the armed forces routinely used for decades. These conditions often emerge years later, when spouses and parents may find themselves in the role of caregiver – cutting back on work or leaving the workforce altogether to manage treatment and the demands of daily life. By the time a veteran’s condition becomes fatal, many families have already endured years of financial strain.
Surviving Families Deserve Ongoing Support
After a veteran passes away, families must often navigate practical challenges alongside their grief, including lost income, mounting expenses and the uncertainty of long-term planning. The VA’s Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) program is meant to help, offering eligible spouses of veterans who died on or after January 1, 1993, a base monthly payment of $1,699.36. Spouses of veterans who died earlier receive varying amounts tied to pay grade.
That’s meaningful support, but it doesn’t account for a veteran’s years of service, lifetime earnings or the financial reality a surviving family actually faces, unlike federal civilian retirement survivor benefits, which can pay a spouse up to 55% of a retiree’s annuity under CSRS, or up to 50% under FERS.
However, the DIC amount may increase, particularly when the veteran was diagnosed with a service-related disability before his death, the spouse also endures the same situation and a minor child still lives in the household. Yet while this measure is undeniably helpful, eligibility can hinge on strict remarriage qualifications, which may limit the benefits available to deserving families.
Moreover, policymakers and veterans’ organizations have also pointed to a gap in the program’s fixed structure: it may not fully account for a veteran’s years of service or rank, both of which may have played an important role in the family’s financial stability.
For a San Fernando-area spouse who put a career on hold to support a service member through deployments and, later, a terminal diagnosis, that gap is the difference between rebuilding a stable life and simply getting by. Even if other forms of assistance – such as CHAMPVA’s healthcare coverage, education and career assistance, and Survivors’ Pension – also offer significant aid, their strict eligibility requirements and coverage often prevent other families from getting the full support they need.
A Step Forward in Supporting Surviving Families
Lawmakers have also moved to strengthen DIC: the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act passed the House in May 2026. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in June. If enacted, it would provide an additional amount on top of the standard cost-of-living adjustment. That is a welcome step, but it does not address the underlying problem: a flat benefit cannot account for what each family actually lost.
For veterans’ families who may have already sacrificed years of income, time and personal well-being to care for the loved one, these shortcomings can add to the burden rather than relieve it. Addressing them is about more than changing policy. It is about recognizing a responsibility we have to the families who made sacrifices alongside those who served.
Cristina Johnson is a Navy veteran advocate at the Asbestos Ships Organization, a nonprofit that raises awareness about toxic exposure on Navy ships.