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Actions Hit Prepayment Cutoff

By VVAW

The last two years has seen a steady decline in the availability of the GI Bill with an upswing in restrictions and red tape procedures to discourage those who receive or wish to receive it.

There is a direct relationship between the attacks on the GI Bill to attacks on education and growing unemployment. Many of us vets have come to depend on the Bill as an essential supplement to our income or the only income. We have literally been backed to the wall. We have to fight or be crushed. It's that simple.

The fight to maintain pre and advance payments has taken various forms as vets become aware of the attacks.

In San Diego, VVAW members leafleted, a held meetings and drew up a petition around the questions of pre and advance payments. On April 1st, they held a demonstration of about 30 vets from four different schools in the San Diego area, at the regional VA building. It was a good start for the vets of the San Diego area. They plan to continue building the campaign in an on going way that will eventually win back the payments for the vets. They have filed a class action suite on behalf of all vets in the area to win back the payments. The suit has the potential of making the struggle known to a much wider audience in Southern California. At the same time VVAW members realize that the courts serve the interests of the rich in this county and are not depending upon the courts for victory--emphasizing the suite as a tactic to popularize the battle.

In Milwaukee VVAW launched the campaign for prepayment at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on May 10th. After the school agreed to advance payment, vets at UWM discovered that the school was eliminating deferred tuition; a means by which vets can attend school until the checks show up. VVAW members responded with an immediate rally demanding the deferred tuition and prepayment be reinstated. Vets in Milwaukee saw the initial rally that was attended by a large number of students as a first local skirmish in a nationwide battle in the fight for prepayments.

In Tampa, Florida at the University of South Florida, 300 vets who were outraged at this latest attack went en masse too the local VA office to demand some answers.

As the official stalled for time many vets drifted away but roughly 100+ who waited were treated to the standard VA dodge of "No, don't worry, this won't happen here." This attack is nationwide and already into law! (see Vet's Notes page 2). The anger of the vets involved at USF is an indication of the ability of vets to rise up against these and other attacks on the GI Bill. This attack is going down everywhere. We ask all vets to join with VVAW in building this fight into a nationwide battle. We believe a good campaign waged in a militant manner can bring a victory across the country that will point the way forward in all the battles we, as veterans, take up.