Posted on 11/09/2007 1:10:59 PM PST by neverdem
MEMBERS of Congress and other political leaders often say that the men and women who have served in our military since 9/11 are the “new greatest generation.” Well, here’s a thought from two infantry combat veterans of the Vietnam era’s “wounded generation”: if you truly believe that our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are like those who fought in World War II, let us provide them with the same G.I. Bill that was given to the veterans of that war.
In terms of providing true opportunity, the World War II G.I. Bill was one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history. It paid college tuition and fees, bought textbooks and provided a monthly stipend for eight million of the 16 million who served. Many of our colleagues in the Senate who before the war could never have dreamed of college found themselves at some of the nation’s finest educational institutions.
Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey went to Columbia on the G.I. bill; John Warner of Virginia to Washington and Lee and the University of Virginia Law School; Daniel Inouye of Hawaii to the University of Hawaii and the George Washington University Law School; and Ted Stevens of Alaska to the University of California, Los Angeles, and Harvard Law School.
Veterans today have only the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which requires a service member to pay $100 a month for the first year of his or her enlistment in order to receive a flat payment for college that averages $800 a month. This was a reasonable enlistment incentive for peacetime service, but it is an insufficient reward for wartime service today. It is hardly enough to allow a veteran to attend many community colleges.
It would cover only about 13 percent of the cost of attending Columbia, 42 percent at...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I believe the original G.I. Bill was one of the few social programs that really produced good results. I can't think of any more than that though. IIRC, after Vietnam there was a fixed stipend every month that was prorated if you didn't go full time that lasted beyond 4 years, as I used it after I got my B.S.
That would be because it was a reward given to people who had already performed incredibly well (a job well done)
Social benefits given to people who have never done anything to earn them turn out people who still never do anything.
I doubled up using the GI and NG. Other states for the NG pay full tuition as well.
If you don’t use it after 10 years, you lose it all, including the $1,200.00 (of your own money)you initially “invested”
I’m all for a WWII style GI Bill for our Combat Vets.
We could only hope, but I doubt the Dems would let it through, even if it was part of Amnesty bill for illegals.
Just heard from my daughter today. She called from Bahgdad’s “green zone”. Coming home on January 16th.
She plans to get out at the end of this (her second) enlistment. Twice to Iraq is enough for her. Time to go to school. The sad thing is, with the GI Bill, which today pays far more than the post-vietnam VEAP program which I fell under, won’t pay for anything more than a State College her in CA. And perhaps not all four years of that.
I'm pretty sure other states do that too, including NY. Join the National Guard and go to higher ed in public schools for free.
That is the G.I. Bill that I earned just after Desert Storm. It was enough to pay for graduate school AND have money left over.
That was the program that came after mine, Montgomery GI Bill.
I was in under the old GI Bill, and it only paid enough to go to a state college.
That was in the Seventies...
Honestly, I was grateful for that.
We could only hope, but I doubt the Dems would let it through, even if it was part of Amnesty bill for illegals.I'm surprised that nobody has noticed that Jim Webb and RINO Hegel are the sponsors of this bill.
you were most likely using the Chapter 34/30 MGIB...not as good as the one created after WWII, but still more robust than the VEAP, which was horrible, or the current Chapter 30 entitlement...the original bill paid tuition, paid for books, and provided a living allowance...you could use it at any school in the country, provided you could become accepted...
I'm with you. Education and home loan benefits are a must. If anyone thinks it is a 'too much', then sign up, the enlistment desk is open.
Fortunately, as a veteran with a campaign under my belt, I can rebuff the charge handily...non vets simply don't have the same luxury unless they 'have a pair' and can be assertive with them.
Should have said, and it laid the screws to all veterans, however, it should also be said that the veterans under the old GI bill were not paid spit, as compaired to todays active duty. So there needs to be an up date but there should be some matching, on the percentage bases, in the form of a savings account like a 41K for education.
This proposed bill is their atonement for undermining our efforts in Iraq. Why do you think I included their titles in the first comment? Most FReepers obviously don't post unless they have something good to write about a person.
“Honestly, I was grateful for that.”
So was I.
Though under VEAP all I was eligible for was $8,100. But I made use of it. thank God for student loans.
The new GI bill that my daughter has will net her $28,000. And I don’t think she had to contribute nearly as much as I did.
Me too. I have always wondered if the Vietnam Era education benefits weren't kept low deliberately so that most of the money would go to state schools... if it wasn't intended to be more of a subsidy to government than a help to vets.
At any rate, I have faith that 'the thanks of a grateful nation' will be expressed, as always, with a hearty "get fu---d."
Yes...and the fact that the NYT is shilling for it casts an even more undesirable shadow on what should be a good thing.
I wouldn't call it NYT's shilling. Their OpEd Contributors come from all over the political spectrum, and don't necessarily discuss politics. It's just a guest OpEd column. Here's yesterday's:
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