Q: Is Chipper Jones a given name or nickname? — Jack Findlam, Decatur
A: Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was born Larry Wayne Jones Jr. He was given the nickname of Chipper because "someone said he was a 'chip off the old block,' " Chipper's dad, Larry Jones Sr., told The Tampa Bay Times in May, "and it just kind of stuck." Jones, who is retiring at the end of this season, recently joined Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams as the only players in MLB history with at least 2,500 hits, 1,500 walks, 1,500 runs, 500 doubles, 450 home runs and 1,500 RBIs while hitting .300 with a .400 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage.
Q: As a soldier in World War II, the government gave me $10,000 in life insurance. How much does the government give a soldier today? — Willis Reasons, Roswell
A: The tax-free death gratuity was raised from $12,420 to $100,000 by the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief Act of 2005. The amount is paid "in the case of a death resulting from wounds, injuries or illnesses incurred in an operation or area designated as a combat operation or a combat zone." It also increased the maximum amount of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance coverage from $250,000 to $400,000 for all service members and provided that the Department of Defense pay or reimburse the premiums for $150,000 of SGLI coverage to service members who are deployed in a combat zone.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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