When I was in college a lot of veterans were also attending on the GI Bill. It was a good thing for us and a good thing for them. The veterans had a different take on things than those of us who came directly to college from high school and the sheltered lives of our families. By learning about their lives, the life decisions they made, the war they had fought, we gained perspective with which to make our own decisions and tempered our view of the World around us.
It was good for the veterans too. Surrounded by all of the typical callow collegians, they were able to see not only the innocence they had lost but the knowledge and maturity gained during the years so many of them had considered "lost". I think the college environment was easier for them than trying to go directly into the "real" world and also more therapeutic than going to counselling sessions in a mental health setting, to try and work out whatever psychic wounds they brought back with them.
I don't know how many veterans who used the GI Bill '60s and '70s, actually got degrees or used them to some constructive purpose. I bet there were quite a few. I don't think the GI Bill did many of them harm. It was a lot better than becoming a junkie, criminal, homeless drifter or just putting a bullet through their brain.
Bush thinks a new GI Bill is a bad idea. He thinks it's too expensive. He thinks it cuts down on the number of combat soldiers willing to re enlist. As far as the expense goes, there is no reason a small liberal arts college needs to be any more expensive than running a high school, especially with the resources of the internet available to all for free. The re enlistment thing? I can only respond that George Bush is a cowardly, cock sucking, chicken hawk bastard, who needs to do a couple of tours in Afghanistan as an enlisted dog face before he starts making statements like that.
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