OTTAWA - A couple short-changed on the cost of burying their son killed in Afghanistan is finally getting compensation.
The chief of military personnel phoned the parents of Cpl. Matthew Dinning on Thursday to apologize after they were forced to go public this week to plead their case.
Rear-Admiral Tyrone Pile promised to send a cheque for the difference between what the funeral cost and what the military paid, as well as cover outstanding grief counselling bills, Lincoln Dinning said Friday.
"He did apologize, saying it should have never happened." Dinning said.
Matthew Dinning was killed in a roadside bomb attack on April 22 last year near Kandahar, one of four soldiers to die that day.
His funeral cost roughly $12,000 -- $6,400 of which was covered by the National Defence burial stipend. The couple will now receive another $4,700, including the cost of a hotel room in Ottawa where they stayed last fall when their son's name was added to the honour roll.
The Dinning family's request for full reimbursement languished in the military bureaucracy for months, even after two letters to National Defence and a written plea to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They have yet to hear from Harper.
The Wingham, Ont., couple reluctantly came forward this week after Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor denied in the House of Commons that families had been left with bills after burying fallen soldiers.
A spokeswoman for O'Connor refused to discuss the settlement with the family.
"We are not going to talk about specific cases," said Isabelle Bouchard in an email note. "The minister said in the House that all families would be contacted so it would not be surprising that the Dinning family would have been."
The military took steps Friday to burnish away some of the tarnishing debate by honouring military spouses during an enrolment ceremony for 100 new recruits outside Ottawa City Hall.
The wives of 10 soldiers, including the widow of Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, were presented with awards of recognition for their support of the military. Girouard was killed last November along with Cpl. Albert Storm, in a roadside bomb attack.
Among the others receiving recognition, Karen Boire and Lisa Miller, who started the wear red on Fridays campaign to support soldiers overseas.
In welcoming new recruits to all branches of the service, the country's top military commander pointed to the families of soldiers who gathered to watch the ceremony.
"You will be sustained by a military community and a family that does look out for you and that does support you," Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, assured the 100 trainees.
"You have some trepidation, some nervousness about putting the uniform on and, in fact, what you're going to face over these next days, weeks, months and several years. Let me just tell you: you can do it."
On Sunday, National Defence intends to declare 2007 the Year of the Military Family.
