Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Tracy Dice is mourning the loss of her wife, 29-year-old Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Donna Johnson, one of three soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on October 1.

Watch the Military Times interview with Dice, AFTER THE JUMP…

Dice and Johnson are the first known same-sex married military couple to have suffered a casualty since the repeal of DADT, according to the Military Times. Dice is being shut out of military benefits because of DOMA, the Military Times reports:

For example, the government pays travel costs of heterosexual spouses to Dover Air Force Base, Del., when fallen troops return to American soil.

Dice was not eligible for those allowances solely through her status as a same-sex widow. But the military did arrange to cover her travel expenses to Dover in the company of the Johnson family — though Dice is unsure how…

…Dice is also shut out of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, a Veterans Affairs Department program that pays $1,215 a month to heterosexual spouses of service members who die on active duty. She’s also left out of other notable benefits, such as the Survivor Benefit Plan and VA education benefits.

In the long term, she won’t receive Tricare health coverage as other widows do, although, as a National Guardsman, she is eligible for the premium-based Tricare Reserve Select program. She’ll continue to receive other benefits, such as commissary, exchange and other base privileges, by virtue of her own National Guard status.

Watch the Military Times interview with Dice, AFTER THE JUMP…

Read the full article HERE (behind paywall).

Freedom to Marry and Outserve-SLDN launched a joint campaign last year focused on highlighting how DOMA hurts gay military families.