This is Memorial Day, or, as it was known when I was a child, Decoration Day. It was a day to decorate the graves of those who had died in the wars we have fought. It is not a day to carp about the president’s GI Bill.
McCain and the president support a bill that links benefits to length of service and allows transfer of education benefits to family members, both requested by the military. The Democrat’s bill, sponsored by Senator Jim Webb, who opposes anything Bush wants, would grant educational benefits to service members regardless of their length of service and would not allow transfer to family.
When I went to college on GI Bill benefits, they were based on length of service. The longer you served, the more quarters of GI Bill benefits you got. The Democrats’ bill would discriminate against career military when we have an all-volunteer service. No surprise there. Nor is the New York Times dishonesty a surprise.
Let’s just think about the day and what it means.