Comments on: How The GI Bill Changed America

Sunday Morning: Legislation For Servicemembers Returning From WWII Now Updated For A New Generation Of Vets

[kesac4650]

I got out of the USMC in 1972. I went to school on GI Bill, and bought my house with GI Bill help. GI bill is good , but not perfect. There are no survivors benefits, as things are. GIs and Veterans have asked for that. McCain''s Bill adds survivors benefits, so when a guy dies, his wife and kids get what he din''t use. Obama''s bill doesn''t contain that.
The Press doesn''t want to tell you that. My nephew came back from Iraq after being diagnosed with leukemia that he never survived. His wife deserves more than what she has gotten for his and her sacrifice.

[mcvet]

If they are worried about people leaving to take advantage of a new GI Bill then maybe they should look into a point system.
Points for:
Time in service
Combat service
Individual combat medals
*high level* medals
... there are probably more but you get the idea.
So if they pegged a free ride at an average state college to a 20yr non-combat vet then additional points could add to the max available (better college).

Posted by cyberus at 05:04 PM : Jun 22, 2008

That whole thing is rediculous and a Cop out!! People who wish to make the military a lifetime job do NOT want benefits until they qualify for a pension. This only helps those who find that it''s NOT what they want and wish to move to another area of work. It''s just more of the same tired old trash the Nazi''s have been handing the American People now for 30 years. They''ll sacrifice the budget to give their rich pals the chance to move American Jobs to other nations but not one cent to help a vet who wishes to educate himself. Sieg Heil Bush

[jelindley]

The author may have the semantics wrong (enlisted vs enrolled) but is right on about the imporance of the GI Bill and the need to bolster it.

[laura552]

In the 1960''s the GI bill did not pay for much. I got
a whopping 130. bucks per month. Even at the 60''s
prices it paid no where near the needed funds to attend a college. I had to drop out as I could not
afford to attend and could not find a part time job either to help with the funds. The GI''s are much better off than they were in my day.

[naucoming4u]

"...I''m not trying to bash private contractors..."

Posted by bvau15 at 05:49 PM : Jun 22, 2008
...........

Oh, please do!

The private contractors have partly given this country a bad name. Torture-for-hire, murder-for-hire companies that skate by all of the laws and "rules-of-engagement" (though questionable).

I don''t blame the soldiers who want to go where the money is. But it is sad that our government does not compensate our soldiers to the level they should, to keep them OUR soldiers rather than becoming lawless contractors!

[william0303]

Service men and women do not enroll as your reporter stated, but we enlist. having spent 22 years as an enlisted man, I enrolled into college, but remain proud to be an enlistedman!

[william0303]

Being a Viet Nam Vet and GI bill user, as well as an enlisted (22 years) the reporter is in error when she said we enroll - we enroll in school not to serve our country. PLEASE respect the military and since there has been enlisted med and women in the military for many years, reporters "REPORT'' the news correctly!!!

[bvau15]

Being a veteran of this current war pursuing a college degree I am very grateful of the new GI Bill. This argument over retention is quite ridiculous. What''s harming retention rates are private contractor companies such as Blackwater. When these companies were created many service members with upwards of 16-17 years of service chose to get out to pursue the money offered with private security contracts. As a veteran who thought long and hard about accepting a security contract, I''m not trying to bash private contractors, but what is more entising $110,000 in six months or better educational benefits. This is the greater threat to military retention rates.

[cyberus-2009]

If they are worried about people leaving to take advantage of a new GI Bill then maybe they should look into a point system.
Points for:
Time in service
Combat service
Individual combat medals
*high level* medals
... there are probably more but you get the idea.
So if they pegged a free ride at an average state college to a 20yr non-combat vet then additional points could add to the max available (better college).

[jn122736]

The original GI bill, signed by FDR, was designed to aid and support RETURNING veterans, both draftees and volunteers.
It was NEVER meant as an enlistment tool for an all-volunteer army.

The number of Americans who actually volunteered for service during WW2 was many times greater than the number now serving in the entire military combined.

After Pearl Harbor, the vast majority of Americans backed WW2 (Unlike Bush%u2019s Iraq fiasco) and they didn%u2019t need financial incentives, they volunteered before the GI bill was even proposed.

Without the incentives offered to servicemen and women, including the current GI bill and large enlistment bonuses, coupled with the Bush administration%u2019s double crossing so many troops with forced service extensions and multiple tours of duty, the Iraq fiasco would have been over at least 3 years ago or a draft would have been activated, in which case the general public would have demanded withdrawal, and bush would not have been elected in 2004

I believe today%u2019s all-volunteer army should also receive benefits from the GI bill of rights law, but I definitely DO NOT believe McCain should be allowed to use any proposed improvements to force longer enlistments, or re-enlistments, as he insists on.

BTW, In addition to the millions of volunteers for WW2 millions more were drafted.