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Fears for SAS Death Funds
Thursday, February 21, 2002
By Belinda Hickman
The Daily Telegraph

The Federal Government has initiated a review of all veterans' entitlements, but that could take more than a year.

AS the body of slain SAS trooper Andrew Russell was yesterday being returned to his wife Kylie and two-week-old daughter in Perth, several former members of the elite unit were hoping his family would receive better treatment from the federal Government than they have. Russell may be the first Australian victim of the allied war on terror, but former SAS soldiers say Australia's fight against terrorism has been raging since the 1970s and they have lost many men.

They say the SAS does not train, as such, for its counter-terrorism role, but maintains a constant operations readiness.

And many of the families of soldiers killed or injured during these operations may not have been adequately compensated, because troops wounded before deployment receive a substantially reduced level of benefits.

Some soldiers, themselves still fighting for compensation after being injured in the 1996 Black Hawk disaster, now fear for their contemporaries, especially those preparing for deployment in Afghanistan.

Former deputy commissioner for Veterans' Affairs Jim Dalton, who has taken up the cause of the SAS soldiers, says the Government should take a stand on entitlements, especially for those injured before deployment. "They deserve to be treated better," said Mr Dalton.

"They need someone with guts and leadership just to get on and do it."
(More: The Daily Telegraph News Source)
2002 © Mirror Australian Telegraph Publications.

Dan