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Vets Demonstrate In New York City

By VVAW

A new chant hit New York City streets on April 5, when 60 angry veterans, most participating in their first protest, marched from their trade school to Regional VA building:

"NO CUTS--NO WAY--GI BILL--HAS GOTTA STAY!"

The vets on this march were mostly from Technical Careers Institute (TCI), a vocational training school, and were there for several reasons: some were being cut off the GI Bill by the May 31 deadline (when 3.7 million veterans nationwide will no longer be eligible for benefits); others were there because of a new variety of harassment the VA is using to try to cut ever larger number of vets off the Bill--taking attendance, just like in grade school. Everyone there felt strong unity with each other because, even if not directly affected now, every vet known damn well that his card may turn up next.

When the TCI vet arrived at the VA building they immediately entered the lobby in order to go up to Regional Director Nugent's office on the 15th floor. But the federal guards turned off all the elevators, which meant that as long as the demonstration continued, the building was shut down. The people coming in to work or see the VA representatives found out why the vets were in the lobby from the banners, spirited chanting and from talking to the demonstrators. And some of these people joined in the chants, bought copies of The Veteran and gave support.

Although he had promised to be on the march, the TCI vet rep (the veterans-representative employed by the school) showed up almost as hour after the vets arrived at the VA, claiming that he "got out of bed just to be here." (People wondered who was worried enough to get him out of bed at the early hour of 10:30 am.) He tried his best to defuse the militance and anger of the protest and partially succeeded, for instead of everyone going up to see Nugent, which was the original intention of the demonstrations, the group decided to send in a delegation. Everyone else went outside the main entrance to wait, but much enthusiasm was lost by not immediately starting a chanting picket line. People were disappointed in how things were turning out, particularly that a delegation went in instead of everyone.

The delegation was met by two of Nugent's assistants with words that we've all heard before, empty phrases which try to pacify people into overlooking how they're getting screwed more and more, and how there isn't really anything that people can do. But people aren't as stupid as those on top might wish. They promised a letter--it arrived late, like a GI Bill check, and contained the kind of stuff people expected: the delegation's concern over the fate of the GI Bill would be forwarded to Washington, and nothing more could be done. A meeting was planned to discuss the next step.

Although there were some disappointing parts of the demonstration, many vets were repeating over and over that the initial energy and enthusiasm had to be expanded into hooking up with the growing demonstrations taking place in all five of New York's boroughs and in the state capital (see the story on page 16), for one area particularly hard hit by the huge cuts in all areas of the bankrupt city's budget is the tuition-free city university system which as afforded working class youth an education that would otherwise be out of reach. The number and size of these actions have mushroomed in recent months as tens of thousands of students have taken to the streets.

Vets are hit not only by the cuts in education by also by the CA and just by being vets in a period of outrageous unemployment. Because of the rate of unemployment among vets, many vets have felt the need to get an education to have a better crack at the dwindling job market and also to have some kind of income just to survive. But the "better" jobs at the end of a diploma are increasingly scarce. And besides trying to cope with GI Bill checks that are almost impossible to live on, these checks are often late. Then there's the new harassment of attendance--taking. Who knows what other moves the VA will pull in their campaign to reduce the number of vets taking advantage of the military's promises about an education at government expense?

And it's not just vets, either. In a time when the rich and their cronies in the government are trying to squeeze every penny, education for all students is being attacked. While other students are fighting to keep the gains in free university education that have been won over the years, vets, while part of that same struggle are caught in a triple-bind between the VA, unemployment and the city education cuts.

It was all of this and more on the minds of the TCI vets on April 5. Many of them were also aware of the proposal by President Ford that the GI Bill be cut back from 10 years of eligibility to 8 years. And the Bill which has already passed the House (though not the Senate) which would eliminate the GI Bill for all people entering the military after January 1, 1976.

What was clear to everyone was that if the bosses manage to get these cuts, which are drastic enough, through Congress, there's no telling what the hacks who are running their top-heavy bureaucracy might try to pull next. The feeling was definitely one of unity, anger and the desire to move forward from the TCI demonstration to link up with other vets and students around the city and across the country to prevent these attacks from being successful.