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Interview: "I Thought It Was My GI Bill, Not Theirs"

By VVAW

All over the United States, individual veterans, in thousands of individual ways, are getting screwed over by the V.A. Whether because of inefficiency, red tape, or one of their hundreds of not-picking regulations, the V.A. can always come up with an excuse, almost always one which tries to shift the blame to the vet involved. The following interview is with a Vietnam vet from Chicago where the VVAW chapter is planning to help him win the GI Bill payments that he needs.

The Veteran: Tony, give us a little of your military background, please.

Tony: I entered the service at 17 right out of high school--I went into the Marines in 1969. Of my two and a half years in, I spent 1 year, 4 months and 28 days in Vietnam with Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, and then with M Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines around Da Nang. I got 2 Purple Hearts, Combat Action Medal, the Cross of Gallantry.

The Veteran: When did you start school?

Tony: After my service in Vietnam I got an honorable discharge which I though included the GI Bill. I started school right after I got out--In November, 1971--and in 19 months completed a trade school course in radio and TV repair/electronics. In September of 1975 I started a course in TV and radio broadcasting at one of the Chicago City Colleges, first in a certificate program (which requires 16 hours of courses) and later in a 2-year degree program (62 hours).

The Veteran: You were getting the GI Bill?

Tony: Up until this last spring. Back in December the VA regional office called me in for "counseling." What they were trying to do was choose my field of work for me. They said there weren't any jobs in broadcasting--that I'd be wasting my time. Then, about in the middle of the semester, they told me I wouldn't get any GI Bill for that semester. Because I couldn't afford to buy them, I had to go to school all last semester without my books.

The Veteran: You started the semester thinking you would get the GI Bill?

Tony: If I'd known I wouldn't get paid, I wouldn't have gone. I went in when they called me for counseling; now they say I was supposed to go in for more counseling, but I wasn't ever notified about that. They say now that if I go into the program they want me to take, they'll reinstate my benefits. I thought it was my GI Bill, not theirs.