Joe wrote:

Well you got it good Thom, so did my older brother. He got in on the
old GI bill and it paid for him to get an MBA from Florida state.

I joined in 78 and missed the GI bill by 1 or 2 years. No loans, no
free school, no VA medical care...ect..ect...ect.
I joined after Vietnam when many citizens of the USA would rather spit
of a Sailor then to say thanks.

But thats OK, I'd do it over again.


You must have been a jailbird or a dropout. I joined up in
'79 and got guaranteed technical training (A and C schools),
rate advancement, plus generous educational benefits (which
were later renegged on). The stuff they gave me was more
generous than the "New GI Bill" they were touting in the
1980s. Problem is trying to collect.

I bought a house through the VA and got the most horrendous
bureaucratic runaround you could imagine. Uncle Sam is very
generous to veterans... in theory... and it is one thing the
Bush Administration has actually delivered on (increased
spending for veterans benefits)... but in most cases the
benefits are such a PITA to collect that unless you are
absolutely at the rock-bottom rung on the socio-economic
ladder, you are better off going elsewhere.

We have a number of friends who are docs at a couple of VA
hospitals, they hate the system too.

DSK