The widow of an airman killed on a combat mission in the Middle East says it took a viral social media post to obtain resolution from the Pentagon on issues tied to her husband's benefits and basic pay, months after his death.

Maj. Alex Klinner, 33, was one of six crew members aboard a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq in March while supporting operations against Iran. He is among 18 U.S. service members killed, together with 790 wounded, since the war began more than six months ago.

This week, the Air Force reached out to his widow, Libby Klinner, to clarify that his final paycheck would include hazard pay and combat-related tax breaks. The outreach came after she voiced frustration on social media, saying a military officer assigned to support her after her husband's death had told her he was ineligible for those benefits because "we were not at war."

"My husband lost his life because we're in a war, and then I was told that because it's not technically a war, we lose out on something," Klinner told The Associated Press. "It all comes down to principle."

Her post, published over the weekend, drew national attention. Vice President JD Vance, asked about the case during a White House briefing on Thursday, promised to look into it.

"We want to be as helpful as we can and ensure she gets everything that she is entitled to," Vance said. "My message to her would be, 'We love ya, we're grateful for the sacrifice and we very much take very seriously our commitment to get you what you need to get.'"

Answering a separate question, Vance rejected describing U.S. fighting in Iran as a "war," saying "there is no active shooting." The military has struck targets in Iran twice this week, and Iran has retaliated by firing on U.S. allies in the Gulf.

On Friday, President Donald Trump described U.S. strikes as "intermittent" and defended Vance's remarks.

"I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

In late July, the Trump administration created a new, separate category in the Pentagon's casualty count system for those killed and wounded in renewed U.S.-Iran fighting. Pentagon officials said the change was necessary because "Operation Epic Fury," the original name for combat operations against Tehran, had ended. Since July 7, all U.S. casualties in the Middle East have been tallied under "Overseas Operations." The dispute over Klinner's pay unfolded against this shifting administrative landscape, in which casualty categories and operation names changed even as fighting and casualties continued.

Libby Klinner said Air Force officials contacted her this week to say they were initiating a review of her husband's pay. On Thursday, she said, the Air Force acknowledged it had initially provided inaccurate information and clarified that she was receiving the full pay and benefits her husband was owed.

She said she was told her husband's paycheck had in fact already included the combat-related hazard pay and tax breaks, but had incorrectly itemized them.

The pay incentives commonly known as "combat pay" total $225 per month and are not conditioned on a formal war declaration, only that the service member be in an area with a "grave danger of physical injury" or be "killed, injured, or wounded by a hostile fire event," according to a military website.

Because troops are paid twice per month, Alex Klinner's final paycheck would have included half that amount. Without more information, it is difficult to calculate how much in federal tax breaks he would have been receiving. Klinner declined to specify the amount of money she was initially told her husband — an eight-year Air Force veteran from Birmingham, Alabama — would be ineligible to receive.

The Air Force said officials spoke with Klinner this week to "ensure all her questions are fully addressed" and confirmed that "all eligible combat theater benefits were included" in her husband's pay.

"We remain committed to providing clear information and continued support to Mrs. Klinner, as well as all the families of the Airmen who died in the KC-135 crash," the Air Force added.

Pay errors are very common across the military because service members can gain or lose eligibility for a variety of payments depending on deployment status, duty location, or family factors. As a result, unlike their civilian counterparts, some troops see their paychecks change many times a year — a reality that also increases the likelihood of errors. For surviving families, the stakes of such errors are compounded: widows and widowers of service members killed in duty-related incidents typically depend on a mix of final pay, survivor benefits, and other entitlements processed in the months after a death, a period in which they rely heavily on the casualty assistance officers assigned to guide them.

A GoFundMe launched for Libby Klinner and her three young children in the days after her husband's death has raised more than $1.5 million.

Klinner said she hoped that by speaking out, other grieving families would receive clear information from the outset.

"I am very fortunate to have a significant support system around us and a platform to advocate for myself and for my kids. Other families may not have those resources," she said. "If I can do anything to make this awful situation a little bit easier for someone else to navigate, then I am more than willing to do so."

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.