U.S. House of Representatives passes the Ward Act
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Legislation passed this week by the U.S. House of Representatives would ensure families received the personal effects of a deceased member of the armed forces.
H.R. 3363, also called the SPC Christian Ward Act, was introduced in May by Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio.
"First of all, I spent nearly 27 years in the U.S. Air Force," Johnson said Tuesday. "The Wards came to me and shared with me their horrific story and experience they had. They lost a son who was serving our country. The only thing left for them was his personal effects."
He said the Wards were told no one could find their son's personal effects and they would need to deal directly with the contractor.
"It's mind boggling to me," Johnson said of the situation. "We need to do something legislatively so that no other family has to go through this. It's unacceptable to me."
He said the deceased member of the military was "owed the respect of safeguarding their personal effects and getting them back to their family."
Gary and Karla Ward's son, Christian, was 23 when he died on June 28, 2019, following an accident while stationed at Fort Carson, Colo.
"Throughout this process, it's been very emotional and physically straining on a person, dealing with the death of a family member," Gary said.
When the Wards received Christian's personal effects after his death, 90 percent of the effects were missing.
"The Army, especially Fort Carson, has been extremely helpful and very kind to us," Gary said. "Once the process is completed and the personal effects are sent back, you're left on your own."
When they contacted Army representatives, they were told it was their responsibility to contact an attorney to sue the contractor who was to send the items back to the family.
He said it's been about 17 months of working with the congressman and his staff.
"We contacted Congressman Johnson and explained to him what happened. He's been wonderful," Gary said. "They had to research to see if there was a law on the books prior to this, but there wasn't one."
They found it wasn't the responsibility of the Army or the Department of Defense to return the personal effects.
"We don't want other families to deal with the loss of the personal effects," Gary said. "There's nothing in the law that makes any of the branches responsible."
He said the establishment of the SPC Christian Ward Act won't help the Ward family, but it will help others in the future.
"There's enough to deal with in getting the family member buried," Gary said. "A lot of it drains a person making sure they take care of their loved one, not dealing with personal effects."
He said people don't realize how much members of the military sacrifice in their personal lives.
"We only saw him five weeks of his adult life. He had training, deployment and a lot of extensive time away from family," Gary said. "Missed birthdays, holidays…they are giving a lot and we want to make sure they are respected and given that sense of love."
He said Christian was an organ donor, which the family didn't realize until his death. Now all of the family has signed up to be organ donors.
Gary noted there was a 17-year-old recipient of Christian's heart and kidney, while his kidney and liver went to a U.S. Air Force veteran.
Tango 740, a nonprofit, has been set up to benefit the Christian Ward Scholarship through Marietta Community Foundation.
"On Nov. 13, Zach Hollingsworth, the owner of Have a Shot of Freedom Whiskey, is having a benefit in Miamisburg, Ohio, for it," Gary said.
Christian is also one of 23 who will be inducted into the Washington County Veterans Hall of Fame on Oct. 9.
Johnson said the legislation has passed the House and the U.S. Senate will then do a version of the bill.
The two bills will be merged by members of the House and Senate, resulting in a conference report.
"Each chamber then votes on the same report," Johnson said. "I'm very, very confident that this is a provision that will stay. It really resonated. It flew through the House."
Michele Newbanks can be reached at mnewbanks@mariettatimes.com.