In 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law the "Servicemen's Readjustment Act," better known as the GI Bill. With that one signature, the President ensured that eight million combat veterans coming home from Germany and Japan would be able to afford an education. The World War Two GI Bill was the Cadillac of scholarships; it covered tuition, fees, and books, and gave veterans a living stipend while they were in school.
And it was worth every penny. A 1988 Congressional study proved that every dollar spent under the original GI Bill added seven dollars to the national economy in terms of productivity, consumer spending and tax revenue. Before I served in Iraq, I worked on Wall Street. We used to talk about ROI - "return on investment." By any standard, the GI Bill was a good buy.
But today, we are not investing in our troops like we did after World War Two. After contributing up to $1,800 from their first military paychecks, today's troops can receive about $45,000 towards their education. That covers only 60-70% of the average cost of four years at a public college or university, or less than two years at a typical private college. The process to get these limited benefits is complicated. Troops have to front the money to their college, and then get paid back by the government in monthly installments. No wonder only 8% of troops even use their whole GI Bill benefit.
We can do better. This year, Congress is taking action on a new GI Bill. The new bipartisan bill, originally introduced by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, would make a college education affordable to every service member returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Webb is a decorated Vietnam veteran who knows firsthand the struggles combat veterans face to rebuild their lives once they come home. He's committed to helping those veterans - and so far, 100 Senators and Representatives have signed on to his legislation.
President Roosevelt said that the original GI Bill gave "emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down."
We have an opportunity to show the same support for a new Greatest Generation. Instead of hearing about a flood of homeless Iraq veterans, we could be building a generation of leaders. This Veterans Day, you can do more for the troops than just go to a parade. Go to www.IAVAaction.org and tell your representatives to make a new GI Bill their priority in 2008.
Washington politicians say they support the troops. Signing on to support a new GI Bill gives them a chance to put their money where their mouths are.
Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff
I am now 100% Disabled due to my war disabilities. Try sending your kids to College on 2600 per Month disability. Yes the VA gives them approx 860 Per Month (pro rated by the amount of days they attend of course) But see how far that goes in a State University in New Jersey where the Yearly costs exceed 20K. My Kids have to take out student loans for 15K a year which by the time they are out of college and have to pay them back will have expanded with interest to almost 45K Times 4 years. So even after the price I paid for serving my country, my 4 kids will end up almost 200 Grand each in debt to get an education which I could not provide for them because of my disabilities from serving my "Grateful" Nation.
Thanks for nothing America.
I was proud to serve for over 20 years and believe that my service enables blogs such as this to exist even when they disparage the soldiers that protect them. My daughter also volunteered to serve and recently obtained her graduate degree courtesy of the US taxpayer.
For some reason I think some of the people commenting here might need a bit more education.
I have said it before and I will say it again that wars are very expensive unless you are the one to fight them. Emboldening the enemy, cut and run and not supporting the troops can be interpeted a couple of ways.The way I interpe it brside the obvious is sending a young man or woman into battle when they have to worry about how there families are making out. Rent Food Etc. This is a fact of life. College is very important and should be what a new G.I. Bill is all about. How about paying the troops what they are worth anf looking out for there families. If we did this I believe there would be second thoughts about going to war.With all the expenses of war I don't think paying a G.Is mortgage is out of line. When I left the Navy in 1954 the death benefit was 10,000 dollars. 50 years later it was not a whole lot better. There is now a decent death benefit for a soldiers family (if there could ever be a decent death benefit) but I think the G.I.s have to pay premiums. I am not sure. I also believe that a buck private means as much to his family as a bird colonel does to his. I don't have to E-mail my representatives about anything come hell or high water because my 2 Senators and and Steny always do what is right.
The reason is simple ~~ job security for those now in office!!
We can't afford having people question the wisdom (or lack of) of our leaders.
I think it's going to take a "Revolution" and from what I've been seeing. we are a long, long way from it.
The motto of this administration should be ~~
"We don't need no stinking Constitution"
the poor neighborhoods and crime ridden streets.
Maybe this government just wants them to just move up a little bit, after all, our privileged like to appear to be without prejudices but draw the line at rubbing elbows. If we let these underprivleged
get too uppity they might want to join "Scull and Bones" and that would not be acceptable.
Of course the Recruiting advertisements don't explain the fine print, just as the mortgage people might have misled the lower income borrowers.
The wealthy have trouble getting richer off each other so they legislate ways of getting it from those that can least afford it. Credit cards, payday loans, lotteries etc.
When the price of energy goes up 200%, and your energy bills only account for about 1% of your income, it does not have much of an impact. But when the cost of energy eats up 5 to 10% of your income thats a different story. Has anyone noticed that the cost of food has gone up 30 to 50% under this administration?
When the money tide rolls in, only the yachts rise accordingly!
That said and after a war/conflict the soldiers are of little value to the industry or to the administration; therefore, they become expendable and forgotten; what a shame indeed.
This Army, seems to want to disentangle itself from its vets, with only minimal post-combat contact except for the visibly injured. But while vets are eligible for college benefits, the mechanism seems to discourage applicants-maybe intentionally.
But considering we spend more money as a nation per prison incarceratee, than we do per student, it's unlikely we'll ever get our priorities in order - I never did understand how conservatism means throwing people's lives (i.e. the future) away to save a buck now.
The names and stories of the former can be invoked as propaganda when attempting to stiffen America's backbone for a new war, but the latter are just expensive.