The Battle for Veteran's Benefits

Ever since the pilgrims first set foot on North American soil there has always been some form of a pension to soldiers of battle. The purpose of this compensation to the soldiers was to allow them to be able to successfully live a post-military life. Over the growth of America the compensation for a soldier’s tenure began to grow as well. From the start of the Old Soldiers Home to the birth of the Veterans Administration (VA) to the inception of the GI Bill the government has adopted more and more methods to aid veterans in their post-military life. However even with all these programs veterans still find themselves struggling to be a part of society as an everyday citizen. Why is it that with all these government programs, veterans are still struggling to adjust to civilian life?

The government’s struggle with keeping up with the veterans began shortly after WWI. Veterans of WWI had been promised a bonus of $1,000 for their service in the Great War, however the money that had been promised never came. Due to the onset of the great depression and the weak economy that came as a result prevented the government from being able to pay the bonus they had promised. The veterans then began a protest in 1932 that 25,000 veterans attended that would become know as the Bonus Expeditionary Force. The force protested until the government decided to send in troops to break the protest up. While the troops succeeded and ended the protest the veterans never received the bonus that had been promised but congress established the Veterans Administration as a result. The VA would then later become the Department of Veteran Affairs in 1988.

In 1944 president Roosevelt signed the first GI Bill. The GI bill’s purpose was to allow veterans to be able...

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...will never be compensation great enough for a vets time in service. Every day of a soldier’s tour there is a chance of their livelihood or life itself to be taken from them, a chance to no be able to return home to their families. For this it would be expected that the government would expend every resource to make sure a soldier is able to live a normal life outside of the military. But instead they receive minimal benefits in their return home. Rather than immediately receive treatment for a mental illness a vet can sit waiting for months at a time pondering suicide. Instead of receiving a college education a vet may end up on the streets alone. As an alternative to spending all of its money on failed projects across the nation, it should instead invest that money into the VA so that veterans might actually receive some type of beneficial help in their return home