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GI Bill is a good start
I was dashing in and out of the hardware store a few months ago when I bumped into a woman I’d first met a number of years ago at a Families Honoring our Troops meeting.
Our sons were both Marine Corps combat veterans in the Iraq War. The last time we’d talked she said her son wasn’t “adapting” well to civilian life.
He’d lived at home a while, but that didn’t last because she and her husband asked their son to move out. He drank too much. He stayed up late and slept all day. His temper flared. He was rude and sullen. He wouldn’t help around the house.
She said that at the moment her son was living with his dog in a camper on a relative’s property. Because he’d joined the Marine Corps right out of high school, he had zero work references for prospective employers. That was almost a moot point because he was so anxious that he could barely sit still long enough to fill out an application, let alone make a good impression during an interview.
The bank repossessed his car. His girlfriend dumped him.
I urged her to call the local Veterans Affairs office and have her son assessed for PTSD. She said she could call, but he might not go. Tough Marines don’t ask for help.
That conversation was more than a year ago. When I saw her recently I was almost afraid to ask.
“How’s your son?”
Worse than ever, she said. The last she’d heard he was couch-surfing from friend’s place to friend’s place. He had one appointment, maybe two with the VA, but never returned.
He’d received a letter from the Marine Corps that invited him back to the military. He was considering it.
I thought about that kid a lot lately during the debates about Rep. Jim Webb’s proposed GI Bill, aka the Veteran’s 21rst Century Education Bill.
It boggled my mind that anyone could argue against it, especially people like mistakes-were-made George W. Bush, who professes to appreciate veterans, and Sen. John McCain, himself a Vietnam P.O.W.
Primarily the arguments against Webb’s bill went like so: God bless our veterans. We love ’em. But if we offer them a bunch of money for school when they get out, they might not re-up, or they might not choose military careers. Then the military would be in big trouble.
Fortunately a majority of the House of Representatives believed otherwise. (Read more in this AP story.) Yesterday the House passed the bipartisan 2008 War Funding Bill, which included the new GI Bill. (Yes votes outnumbered the no votes 416 to 12. Voting yes were 230 Democrats and 186 Republicans. Voting no were 3 Democrats and 9 Republicans.)
Although the bill isn’t a done deal, the Senate is widely expected to approve it next week, and President Bush is expected to sign it into law some time after that.
If so, the bill will fund four-year educations for post-911 veterans, even at the most expensive in-state public universities. In addition to tuition, the new GI Bill would cover veterans’ monthly costs for housing, textbooks and other related costs, like tutoring.
That’s a good start. But how will the eligible veterans learn of these benefits? How will word about it reach those veterans in the most dire situations, such as the son of the woman in the hardware store?
This GI Bill could be great news for veterans, but only if they know about it so they can take advantage of it.
Then, the 21rst Century Education Bill will give those who’ve served their country a chance to serve themselves.
They deserve it.
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A generous GI bill is good for both the vets and the country. If a vet can get by on just the GI bill benefits, they can graduate sooner and focus on their studies instead of balancing part time jobs and school. Doing better in school also makes it likely they will do better in the job market, and pay more taxes over their lifetime. Even the military is likely to gain something, as they recruit from the ranks of those who aspire to a good education, and see this as a good way to earn it.
This mom just described my grandson, perfectly. Everything. It’s him! Isn’t that sad.
You just have to wonder what will happen to these poor lost souls if something isn’t done to help them.
Thank you for bringing this information to us. I will be watching to see what happens.
Thank God for men like Senator Jim Webb. This GI Bill was long overdue for these kids that are currently serving in the military. I got my bachelor’s and master’s degree using the GI Bill in the early 1970’s.
One item that needs to be addressed with the new Bill is to remove the ten year period to use it. It should never expire!
Semper Fi!!!
Armand
My son, a Vietnam veteran, enlisted right out of high school. As a cryptanalyst in the service, he had no qualifications for employment at home. It was a floundering time. But on the G.I Bill he (1) obtained a university degree and later (2) bought his first home. The G.I. Bill was literally a lifesaver. We owe that much to our young men who put their own lives on hold to serve their country.