The GI Bill: How the Affects Changed a Nation
For over six decades the GI Bill has been a staple for education in the United States for military and the veterans who have defended its citizens and country. So, why was the GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act) established? The events in World War II would play an integral role in the outcome and stability of this military educational reform legislation. In 1944, World War II changed the face of the world. Many families were left to “fend” for themselves to prevent their stagnation and fears that their loved may not return home from war. Many that served in the war, as young as ages 17 and 18, were placed into regiments encompassed from Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, spanning all the way across the Pacific Ocean into Japan. As the war drew down and troops began to return to the states, many concerns were raised by the government that individuals looking for work could potentially impact the U.S. economy.
Although the reasoning for the GI Bill was in fact an actual ploy to offer a way to infer the immense and already growing number of “veterans” [returning home from] “World War II” (Greenberg 2008). The United States government expressed further “political…fear” of a “sudden” influx of “nearly 16 million veterans” (Greenberg 2008). As the years progressed, through the Vietnam and Korean Wars, it became more evident that the GI Bill would maintain its use to educate and in part influence economic reform.
During the 1960’s, significant events impacted the way society viewed educational stability and reform. Unfortunately, the African Americans were one group of the population that saw indifference to the policy of education to include many women that were denied education. As discussed by Chuck Leddy, “civilian female applicants were disproportionately excluded” (2009).
The most influential event to the