Brooksville , Florida ( CNN ) -- Freda Green thought the battle was over when her husband returned from the Vietnam War . But more than seven years after his death in 2003 , she says the U.S. Defense Department is demanding she repay more than $ 41,000 in benefits the government shelled out as part of an insurance policy he paid into . `` They gave me 45 days to pay it back , '' said Green , 74 , who claims the federal government began garnishing her benefit payments when she could n't pay it all back at once . `` They said 45 days , and two weeks later they started taking it out of my check , '' she said . Green says $ 577 is now being deducted from her military benefit check each month . The reason : She got remarried last year . It is a confusing section of a federal law that affects some 57,000 military spouses -- and their children -- who receive military benefits and are now being forced to pay Uncle Sam back after walking down the aisle again , according to Norb Ryan , a retired Navy vice admiral and president of the Military Officers Association of America . `` Here we are taxing the groups that have done the most for this country , '' said Ryan . `` If I were in the Pentagon , I 'd be awfully embarrassed by this situation . '' A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on Green 's case . Green 's first husband , Jerry , a 33-year Air Force veteran who served during World War II , Korea and Vietnam , elected to pay monthly premiums on an insurance policy for supplemental survivor benefit coverage , she said . The program is a Department of Defense plan , similar to an annuity , that provides the benefit to the surviving spouse . When her husband died from heart and lung problems that the Air Force determined were military-related , Green had to choose between collecting his pension or a separate monthly benefit from the Veterans Administration . She chose the latter . In addition to the monthly benefit , the Pentagon sent her more than $ 41,000 from the government-sponsored insurance policy her husband purchased . Green said she received the lump-sum check shortly after his death . It prompted her to call the Defense Department for an explanation , she said . `` I called Air Force finance , and they said , 'No . That 's your money . ' I was afraid the money was n't mine and they made a mistake . '' The letter from the Air Force reads : `` Because Jerry died from 100 percent service connected disabilities , all of the money he paid for survivor 's benefits is to be refunded . '' `` That 's what they told me , '' she recalled . Green said she then cashed the check , paying more than $ 6,000 in taxes . In 2009 , a federal judge ruled survivors could get both of the original benefits if they remarry after the age of 57 . Green -- who was remarried last April -- then became entitled to collect her husband 's pension in addition to the separate Veterans Administration benefits . Uncle Sam is now paying both , but wants the $ 41,000 back from the supplemental insurance policy , plus 6 % interest -- all because of her marriage . A bill that Rep. Joe Wilson , R-South Carolina , introduced last week is meant to fix the issue . `` A cost of war is not just guns and ammunition and tanks and airplanes , '' said Sen. Bill Nelson , D-Florida . `` A cost of war is taking care of veterans and also taking care of the deceased service members widows , widowers , and orphans . '' The issue may be cost . In congressional testimony , Pentagon officials have opposed eliminating the offset because they believe it would create an inequity as some spouses would receive two benefits while others would receive only one . Ryan said it will cost more than $ 600 million each year to fully cover all 57,000 remarried military spouses . `` The military gave her the money back when he died , '' said Suzanne Gerstner , a spokeswoman for Gold Star Wives of America , a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping military widows . `` Now they want it back . '' Gerstner also said it is unfair that Green , and others like her , have to repay the full amount , including the $ 6,000 she lost in government taxes . `` She paid taxes ( and ) she 's going to pay taxes again , '' Gerstner said . `` This is n't right under anybody 's book . '' Green says Congress needs to change the law . `` They need to fix it now , '' she said , saying she feels as though Pentagon and elected officials are `` waiting for the military widows to die off . ''
Widow says the Defense Department demanded she repay $ 41,000 in benefits after she remarried . Score: 6 A Pentagon spokesman declines to comment .