GI Bill vs Welfare

Of course.

One is in recognition of service to country.

The is...

Well for a bunch of reasons - good and bad.

 

NO! The G.I. Bill is the government keeping promises and legal obligations it made with the volunteers, deferred compensation. This is especially true since the all voluntary armed forces. Conscripted soldiers are doing forced labor.

Same as the pensions of people who volunteered to work for the various governments. A deal's a deal. When I signed on with the Seattle PD the city's part of the deal was a 2%/year of service pension after 20 years. In the same way, the GI Bill is now a part of the deal.

 

Basically....WHAT TARGUS SAID!!

I volunteered to serve in this Republic's armed forces. Upon so doing, I voluntarly surrended my own will to that of those constitutionally authorized officials in the chain of command under which I swore to obey.

In so doing, I voluntarily agreed to accept all of the terms of my enlistment agreement. Among these terms were such things as: 1) The type of job I would be required to perform as my military duty(-ies); 2) The location(s), which could include places deemed as "hazardous (i.e., combat-type environment), where I was ordered to serve; 3) The supervisor(s), etc., to which I was ordered to report and/or to serve; 4) The living conditions that were available during not only while I was on duty, but also (in my case, anyway) while I was off duty; and (to some folks, anyway); 5) The possibility/rate of promotion(s) I could expect to have---which, in turn, directly affected my pay (such as it was back then :smilewinkgrin and other things such as my eligibility for certain VA benefits, including (at least as far as this specifc thread is concerned) VA home loan "guarantee(s)" and funding for VA-eligible educational assistance funding.

IOW, I voluntarily agreed to all of the above (and a "whole-lot more!") when I raised my right hand and solemnly swore to defend the Constitution of the US and all lawful orders given to me by those in legal authority to issue such orders to me.

It was MY decision to do all of this.

Nobody forced me to do it, but, at the same time, the Government of the US also promised me certain things as well.

I did my best to uphold my end of the bargain for what turned out to be a grand total of 22+ years (about 1/3d of my life at age 66). Some of it (at least 6 years) was in full-time service on active duty status (24/7/365[6]). The remainder (at least 16+ years) was spent as a "drill-status" Tennessee Air National Guardsman.

I used at least SOME of the GI Bill's educational benefits to help support me financially while pursuing my undergradute level (BA, 1976) as well as some of my graduate level (MA, 1981) studies.

Welfare.....OTOH.....is....well, .............!! :smilewinkgrin:
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---ktn4eg, USAF/TN ANG retired E-6 (TSG)

 

I believe there have been two government programs that have been beneficial, the interstate highway system and the WWII GI bill!

 

One is earned, the other is not. End of story.

 

I believe there have been two government programs that have been beneficial, the interstate highway system and the WWII GI bill!

The GI Bill and the Marshall Plan were, without a doubt, beneficial. The highway system had some unintended consequences: urban sprawl, smog, the love affair with high powered cars, dependence on Arab oil . . . .

Most large cities were laid out before cars and trains were invented. Trains and trollies came first. Rails were laid in farmland outside the cities with private money. Housing and businesses were built within walking/bicycle distance of the tracks. Looking back, we might be better off if part of the money had been put into rails instead of roads.

Most every person in the military these days is a volunteer except maybe full Colonel or above. 40 years ago the government promise was first class medical treatment for retired and disabled vets, your old job back for single term enlistments or draftees.