Widow in A-Bombing Wins Benefits
The Veterans Administration finally has awarded death benefits to the widow of an Enola Gay crew member--21 years after her husband died of leukemia and nearly 43 years after the B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Eleanor Shumard, 66, of Detroit, had been fighting since 1967 to get the VA to acknowledge that her husband’s death might have been caused by radiation exposure from the bombing.
Shumard’s case received a boost in May when the Radiation Exposed Veterans Compensation Act took effect. The law allows veterans or survivors to claim service-related benefits if the veteran was exposed to radiation and subsequently suffered certain cancers.
At first, the VA was unsure whether the law applied to former Master Sgt. Robert Shumard, an assistant engineer and gunner on the Enola Gay, but two days before the 43rd anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, his widow was informed that service-related death benefits will be paid.
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