ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the consequences of the GI Bill of Rights. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, or GI Bill, may be the least controversial and most lauded major public policy measure ever enacted in the United States. The GI Bill's major provisions included educational and vocational training; unemployment compensation; mustering-out pay; loans to veterans wishing to buy a home, farm, or business; and hospitalization and disability for the wounded. The Veterans' Preference Act of 1944, or the Starnes-Scrugham Bill, passed in June 1944 with just one dissenting vote. The act added ten points to the scores of men and women who saw active duty in any branch of the armed forces, whether in time of peace or war, who were honorably discharged, and who suffered a service-related disability. On June 23, 1944, former Corporal Don A. Balfour of Washington, DC, a student at George Washington University, became the first GI to sign up for education benefits.
