Posted on 12/28/2002 12:03:29 AM PST by SAMWolf
NewsMax.com
| G.I. Bill: 50 Years of Success |
| Mark Shields |
| May 20, 2000 |
| A GREAT AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY TURNS 50 Fifty years ago this commencement season, 328,841 American men graduated from the country's colleges - three times greater than the number of graduates just a decade earlier. During those 10 years, which began with the nation still deep in depression, the United States fought and won World War II and the Congress passed and President Franklin D. Roosevelt had signed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, which was primarily intended to prevent unemployment among returning veterans. Thanks to Jack Cejnar, a public-relations officer with the American Legion (which had been the most indispensable lobbyist backing the law), it would be forever known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. Before the G.I. Bill, a college education had been not only beyond the dreams of American working-class families but nearly the exclusive experience of the children of professional and/or affluent parents. The G.I. Bill changed all that almost immediately, and it changed America permanently. The numbers tell the story. Prior to World War II, under 5 percent of Americans over the age of 25 had completed four years of college. As a consequence of the optimism and national confidence sparked by the success of the G.I. Bill, eventually one out of four Americans over 25 would be a college graduate. As Michael J. Bennett reminds us in his terrific book on the social miracle the G.I. Bill wrought, "When Dreams Came True," while the American Legion and arch-segregationist Rep. John Rankin, D-Miss., championed the legislation, giants of American education - including Harvard President James B. Conant and University of Chicago President Robert M. Hutchins - were adamant and elitist in their opposition. Conant publicly expressed concern that the arrival of veterans would inevitably lower academic standards. Hutchins wrote of his fear that the vets would turn American colleges into "educational hobo jungles." Later, Conant would admit his error and call veterans on his campus "the most mature and most promising students Harvard has ever had." Some 7.8 million veterans, close to half of those eligible, enrolled in a school or job-training program. Also available under the law to GI's were loan guarantees to buy a home. That impact was profound: Before the war, two-thirds of Americans rented their homes; after the G.I. Bill, two out of three would own their homes. Opponents of the G.I. Bill who had condemned it as a "handout" that would erode character were silenced by the social and professional mobility this law made possible. The entire postwar cost of $14.5 billion, neutral studies have estimated, has been returned at least seven times over to the U.S. Treasury in the form of increased tax revenues. The G.I. Bill produced 450,000 engineers, 240,000 accountants, 230,000 teachers, 97,000 scientists, 67,000 doctors, 122,000 dentists and - by the early 1960s - one half of the membership of the U.S. Congress. By 1964, three out of four Americans, not surprisingly, trusted the federal government "to do what is right" all or most of the time. Over the last quarter century, that trust number has dropped to just one out of four. Successful presidential candidates of both parties run against the government they seek to lead and against Washington, where they strive to live. That the air we breathe and the water we drink are safer and cleaner now is a direct result of the actions of our federal government we do not celebrate. We instead deny. That our elderly citizens are healthier and dramatically less poor because of the actions of our federal government we do not celebrate. We instead deny. To recognize and to celebrate true national success inspires our collective optimism and our confidence in our ability to act again for the common good. That is the value and the legacy of the G.I. Bill.
COPYRIGHT 2000 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC. |
Regards,
Soooo...we may be leaving for Texas soon. While my brother is here, we are going to go visit Ronnie Van Zant's grave and go to the Freebird Cafe. Allyson loves Lynyrd Skynyrd. Tim would sing "What's your name" to her when she was 3 and 4. It was so sweet.
I'll be back later to read the thread. My grandpa got his education with the GI Bill. He eventually got his PhD in Biology and was a Biology professor at Harding University for 30 years! Go Navy!
<-------click on the picture
Today's classic warship, USS Pasadena (CL-65)
Cleveland class light cruiser
Displacement: 14,400 t.
Length: 610’1”
Beam: 66’3”
Draft: 24’10”
Speed: 31.6 k.
Complement: 1,319
Armament: 12 6”; 12 5”; 28 40mm; 10 20mm
The USS PASADENA (CL-65) was laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., 6 February 1943; launched 28 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. C. G. Wopschall; and commissioned 8 June 1944, Capt. Richard B. Tuggle in command.
Commissioned just before the thrust into the Marianas, PASADENA completed shakedown and training during the summer of 1944 and on 25 September got underway for the Pacific theater. On 3 November, she crossed the International Date Line and, continuing on, joined TF 38, the fast carrier force at Ulithi at mid-month. Through the remainder of the year she participated in that force's operations against Luzon and Formosa in support of the Philippine campaign. In mid-January 1945, as the assault on Luzon pressed forward, the force sailed into the South China Sea and hit Japanese installations and shipping along the Indo-China coast and on Formosa. In February, the ships, now TF 58, moved against the Japanese home islands, then swung southeast to cover the landings on Iwo Jima, during which PASADENA added her guns to the bombardment group and performed patrol duties.
Replenished at Ulithi, the force, with PASADENA in the inner screen, sortied again in mid-March to soften the way for the operation "Iceberg" assault force with strikes on the southern Japanese home islands and the northern Ryukyus in addition to those against the main assault target--Okinawa. At sea for 80 days, PASADENA, as flagship for CruDiv 17, participated in the night bombardments of Minami Daito (28 March and 10 May) and in the continuous strikes against other Japanese positions on Okinawa and Kyushu (1 April--30 May).
After a brief respite at Ulithi and Leyte in June, the force sortied from Leyte Gulf for its last strikes against the enemy's home islands in early July and from mid-month to mid-August pounded military and industrial complexes on the Tokyo plain, northern Honshu, and Hokkaido in anticipation of heavy resistance to what appeared inevitable--an invasion of Japan. On 15 August, however, Japan accepted surrender terms.
Following the cessation of Pacific hostilities, PASADENA commenced occupation duties. On 23 August, she became flagship of TG 35.1, on the 27th she anchored in Sagami Wan and on 1 September shifted to Tokyo Bay where she witnessed the official surrender ceremony the next day. >From then until mid-January 1946, she remained in the Tokyo Bay area supporting the occupation forces. On 19 January, she got underway for San Pedro and an overdue overhaul. Training and local operations followed and in September she headed west again. From November to February, 1947, she participated in division exercises in Micronesia, then, after fleet maneuvers in Hawaiian waters, returned to California. For the next year she conducted local operations, then, during the summer of 1948, conducted an NROTC training cruise. On 1 October, she got underway again for the Far East. At the end of the month she arrived at Tsingtao and until May, 1949, operated off the China coast. On 1 June, she returned to California. During the summer, she conducted local exercises and on 12 September departed Long Beach for Bremerton and inactivation.
Decommissioned 12 January 1950, she spent two decades in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was stricken from the Naval Register on 1 December 1970 and sold for scrap on 5 July 1972.
PASADENA earned five battle stars during World War II.
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