The G.I. Bill

By Jim Ramsay Redstone Review

PINEWOOD SPRINGS

– The third Saturday in May is Armed Forces Day, the day when we honor our men and women in uniform. Unlike Memorial Day (May 31), which honors those who gave their lives in service to their country and Veterans Day (November 11) which honors those both living and dead who served in the past, Armed Forces Day is for all members of the military whether currently serving or not, living or dead.

I don’t usually go in for the parades and patriotic speeches associated with these holidays, but this year I will be thinking of my dad, who was a World War II veteran. He was not a big fan of the military and never rose above the rank of corporal. Like many young men of his generation, he was traumatized by the war, and the scars of surviving the Battle of the Bulge stayed with him for the rest of his life.

But he was grateful for one thing that came out of that experience: the G.I. Bill. Formally known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, the G.I. Bill made it possible for returning WWII veterans to attend colleges and universities, among other things, previously affordable only to the rich and privileged. With the government picking up the tab, my dad was able to attend Iowa State University where he got a degree in agricultural engineering, which led to an international career in agriculture extension that wouldn’t otherwise have been open to a guy from small town Iowa with only a little experience working in gas stations.

The 1944 G.I. Bill covered more than college tuition. It included vocational training, low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start businesses or farms, and a year of unemployment compensation, all of which enabled returning vets to participate in the booming post-war economy. By the time this G.I. Bill terminated in 1956, almost 8 million veterans had used the Bill to further their education, resulting in a highly educated workforce.

Since 1956, updates to the G.I. Bill have made these educational benefits available to Vietnam era veterans and post 9/11 era veterans. Both the Vietnam Era G.I. Bill and the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill are referred to as the G.I. Bill. In fact, more Vietnam veterans (72 percent) than World War II veterans (49 percent) or Korean War veterans (43 percent) used G.I. Bill benefits to further their education.

Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, if you served at least 36 months of active duty, then you’re eligible for coverage of up to 36 months of college or career training.

The 36 months of classes or training won’t have to be consecutive.

Jim Ramsay was raised in Iowa, Iran, Nigeria and Afghanistan. He studied English at CU in Boulder and taught English as a Second Language in Tanzania, Botswana, the University of Illinois and the Economics Institute at CU. He moved from Boulder to Pinewood Springs in the early 1990s to follow a dream of mountain living, and he’s still up there.