Time for A New GI Bill

There's a new book out by Edward Humes called Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream. I heard an announcement that Mr. Humes will be interviewed and the GI Bill discussed on C-Span this weekend at 11 a.m. EST. I have not yet been able to read the book, but a review posted at the publisher's web site read:

"Humes examines and celebrates the G.I. Bill, the benefit program for veterans signed into law two weeks after D-Day. A remarkably farsighted piece of legislation, the G.I. Bill aimed to reintegrate into American society the 16 million veterans who would return from WWII ... In the five years after V-J Day, eight million returning vets made use of the bill's educational provisions, while the bill's loan guarantees brought home ownership within the reach of five million vets, resulting in the explosive development of suburbia ... the bill, he says, was an enormous giveaway program by big government, one that cost a fortune while reaping an even larger fortune for the country ... only meager benefits await those returning from today's wars." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Senator-elect Webb has said that he will introduce legislation for a new G.I. Bill upon entering office. Such a proposal is absolutely necessary. I know of returning vets who do not have enough money to pay for their educations, who are having trouble securing or renewing their employment, and who are struggling to catch up with their contemporaries who did not have to put their lives on hold and were able to go about building their lives without interruption and without concern for a potential new deployment.