The Emergency Casualty Assistance Program of the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund offers financial support to military families who are impacted by the death of an immediate family service member. Funds from this program may be used to pay for expenses related to the funeral of a family service member which are not covered by any military program or benefit.
This program may be accessed upon application from either an eligible family member of a service member who died in support of post 9/11/2001 military operations, or, by a representative of any of the military branches providing casualty assistance services to the relatives of the fallen service member.
You may be eligible for assistance through this program if:
- You are an eligible family member of a military service member with ties to Massachusetts who died while in service to the United States as a result of or in support of military operations dating after 9/11/2001. For the purposes of this program, eligible family members are those related to the fallen service member as a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent or sibling. Other family members may be considered if they have been appointed guardians for dependents of the deceased service member, or, upon petition to the Fund;
Application. Family members and Casualty Assistance Officers interested in applying to this program should send a written request containing:
- The full name and rank of the fallen service member
- The city/town and state of residence listed with the Department of Defense as the service member’s home of record
- The date of the service member’s death
- The location of the service member’s death;
- The name of the military operation the service member was supporting at the time of his/her death.
- The name, address, telephone and email address of the petitioner and their relationship to the fallen service member; and
- A brief description of how the funds will be used, including the amount requested and the method of payment requested (reimbursement or direct billing to the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund)
This written request can be sent by email to Diane Nealon, Executive Director, at dnealon@massmilitaryheroes.org. In urgent situations, requests can be called in to 617-482-0444 during business hours or to 617-942-1484 outside of business hours. Funds for this program are limited and will be disbursed based upon the urgency of presenting need.