(HOST) As part of this Thanksgiving holiday, commentator Bill Seamans hopes that Americans will find meaningful ways to thank veterans for their service. And he favors one idea in particular.
(SEAMANS) During this Thanksgiving Week, thoughts of appreciation come to mind about some experience that has shaped our lives for the better. I, for one, am thankful for the World War II G.I. Bill of Rights. Now, "what was that?" ask the younger generations. Well, for starters, it was one of the greatest pieces of social legislation passed in the modern era of our nation. It helped eight million veterans of World War II achieve a better and more prosperous life. It created a vibrant new middle class that boosted the nation out of its postwar economic and social doldrums.
I’m especially thankful this week for a small but hardly noticed Op Ed piece that appeared the other day in the New York Times. It was submitted by Senators Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, and Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska – both wounded Viet Nam veterans. They offered what I think is a great idea, long past due, to truly help our new veterans emerging from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – a great idea that regretfully has not been followed up by the pundits who have the persuasive power to rouse the attention of the politicians who could make it happen.
Webb and Hagel proposed that the original World War II G.I. Bill be restored. The original B.I. Bill paid for all college tuition and fees, all books, as well as room, and provided a monthly stipend to help with board. There was no restriction on the choice of colleges. If you could get in – the G.I. Bill paid – no matter how high the tuition – and it was virtually free of red tape.
With a higher education now costing up to more than forty thousand dollars a year, restoring the regional G.I. Bill would be like kick-starting the Dream Machine of post World War II America.
For those not college bound, the G.I. Bill paid all expenses for the best vocational training and guaranteed loans that helped vets set up their own businesses in their trades. And the World War II G.I. Bill not only paid for itself, it produced billions more for the treasury in the higher taxes paid by the higher earnings of its better educated beneficiaries…
So we can see that for our deserving new veterans and for the nation as a whole, it is a win-win proposition.
I was one of those whose lives were profoundly changed for the better by the World War II G.I. Bill. During this Thanksgiving week I fervently hope that there are some in Washington with the vision of those who, sixty hears ago, made the original G.I. Bill of Rights possible. I hope that We the People can persuade our congress persons, and especially our presidential candidates, to put aside their acrimonious debate for a moment to vigorously support Webb and Hagel’s proposal to restore the original World War II G.I. Bill of Rights… and give our newly emerging veterans what it gave me, and millions of others… the reality beyond the dream.
Bill Seamans is a former correspondent and bureau chief for A-B-C News in the Middle East.