U.S. House Approves Bill Johnson’s “SPC Christian Ward Act”

WASHINGTON – Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) released the following statement after the U.S. House approved H.R. 3363 - the SPC Christian Ward Act - as part of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This legislation helps bring closure to military families by ensuring that possessions of fallen service members are returned to their families. An amendment was added to the NDAA to include H.R. 3363, thanks to Congressman Mike Turner (OH-10) who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee:

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“Military families whose family members have made the ultimate sacrifice shouldn’t be burdened with worrying about whether or not they will receive their loved-one’s possessions,” Bill Johnson said. “This important legislation directs the Department of Defense to hold accountable contractors who have failed in their job to deliver the possessions of fallen soldiers to grieving families. No family should ever have to deal directly with a contractor who has misplaced or lost these items. Thanks to the Ward family brining this issue to light, no military family will ever have to experience what they did after the loss of their son Christian. And, a special thank you to Congressman Turner for ensuring this legislation was included in the House Armed Service’s approval of the NDAA.”

“Our country mourns for every military family that loses a loved one in service to our country, and we must do everything in our power to support them,” said Congressman Mike Turner. “Currently, if a third party damages or loses the belongings of our fallen men and women, the grieving families are unfairly stuck tracking down these lost items. Rather than placing an additional burden upon the families, this amendment allows reimbursements to be done by the Service secretaries. I have fought alongside Rep Bill Johnson for this vital reform in this years NDAA and look forward to it becoming law,” concluded Turner.

“Losing a son is the hardest thing our family has ever experienced,” said Gary Ward, Christian’s father. “Christian’s possessions are important to keeping his memory alive and in 2019 when he died we didn’t receive all of his things we knew he had at the time of his death, and the grief of losing our son was only compounded. No family should ever have to experience that. Our son served his country honorably starting when he entered the U.S. Army two weeks after his high school graduation. Christian was a dedicated soldier who did extensive training as a crew chief on the UH60 Medevac Black Hawk stationed overseas and in Colorado. Thanks to Congressman Johnson, Congressman Turner, and their staffs, no other family will have to experience what we experienced.”

In June of 2019, Army SPC Christian Ward passed away following an accident while stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. His family did not receive all of his possessions from the military contractor hired to send them home to Washington County. The family was told they needed to handle this themselves, to file a claim with the contractor to reimburse them for the missing possessions.

SPC Ward was raised in Lowell, and his family still resides in the village in Washington County.

This legislation will require that if the Department of Defense (any military branch) hires a third-party contractor to transport the personal effects of a deceased service member, the DoD is then responsible for working with the third-party contractor to file claims and procedures relating to any missing items. Additionally, this bill makes the DoD responsible for reimbursing next of kin for items damaged, lost, or destroyed should the third-party contractor be unable to deliver them.

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This was written by U.S. Congressman Bill Johnson's office. Any opinions expressed within are the author's own.

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