I am all in favor of people who serve in the miliatry getting all of the benefits they have coming to them. My problem? Why do those of us who spent our time in an ugly war we all want to forget, Vietnam, get almost nothing?
Don't believe me? Check out the benefits that someone who served in Vietnam gets versus what veterans got in World War II and those serving now, in Iraq and wherever, and ask yourself What the hell happened to a whole generation that lost their lives to Vietnam?
I would like to see some of these new military benefits be made retroactive. But, I guess, those of us who served 40 years ago should be over our problems by now, and certainly don't deserve any help. Ah, and we aren't really a big voting block, I guess.
By the way, if you don't want to check the facts, we got dirt.
Oh, the reason this has popped up:
Many post 9/11 veterans and servicemembers will soon see a new package of education benefits. This new Post 9/11 GI Bill, or so-called GI Bill for the 21st Century, boasts the most comprehensive education benefits package since the original GI Bill was signed into law in 1944.
The new bill goes well beyond helping to pay for tuition; many veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001, will get full tuition and fees, a new monthly housing stipend, and a $1,000 a year stipend for books and supplies. The new bill also gives Reserve and Guard members who have been activated for more than 90 days since 9/11 access to the same GI Bill benefits.
Again, no problem with veterans getting something in return for the time they put in, sometimes involuntarily (remember the draft) but why does someone who served after September 11, 2001 deserve more than someone who served in the 60's or 70's? Has anyone counted the names on the Vietnam memorial lately? Last I checked it was over 58,000.
And how would you feel if you left the service on September 10, 2001? That your time in the military didn't really count for that much?
And people wonder why politicians are held in such "high" esteem. This bill says it all. No regard at all for tens of thousands of people who, sometimes proudly, sometimes not so proudly, served their country. But boy, that bill sure has a nice symbolic date, September 11, 2001. Excuse me if I sound a bit, shall we say, disillusioned.
2 comments:
I remember those days. I was only in junior high, but I was proud of you... still am. You are alive, relatively sane and have a lot to be grateful for, but I do understand what you are saying. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who have sons and daughters serving now, going off to our current war, friends have too.. hey, I have a couple young friends. Glad you got this out of your system.
Marty
I was in High school during the end of the Vietnam War. But I have many friends that served. The way that returning servicemen were treated then was and is a crime.
I have nothing but the utmost respect for people like yourself. I agree 100% with what you have written.
Thanks for an eye-opening post.
Post a Comment