News and Media

New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer deserves the highest praise for his powerful commitment to the thousands of New York citizen soldiers fighting in the Iraq and Afghanistan war theaters. In his State of the State address this month, he proposed guaranteeing a full-tuition scholarship to these heroic men and women, so that they may attend any State University of New York or City University of New York college or university upon their return.

Mr. Spitzer's initiative should serve as a paradigm for what our nation must do for this new generation of veterans. They have sacrificed so much for us. We owe them honor, respect and the opportunity for a brighter future. We owe them a new GI Bill assuring them a college education. Continue Reading

Jerome Kohlberg is a perfect illustration of the point he continues to make: America should honor its returning veterans with the promise of a paid-for college education, not just out of a sense of obligation, but because the country will benefit.

Kohlberg, best known as one of the "K"s in KKR, the investment firm, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Many veterans returning from that war "had never dreamed of going to college," he has said. But thanks to the GI Bill that Congress passed in 1944, Kohlberg was able to earn an undergraduate degree from Swarthmore and graduate degrees from Harvard and Columbia.

He and millions of others emerged from college as professionals with better salaries and better opportunities. They transformed industries from technology to finance and generated a tidal wave of new tax revenue. Continue Reading

The extent to which today's combat veterans are succeeding in their education plans is hard to tell. Available data can't tell the whole story but do raise some questions: Though 95% of active-duty service members sign up for the GI Bill (which costs $1,200), as many as 29% of those who are eligible when they separate from the military never use the benefit, Defense Department data show. Last year, about 7% of service members who separated from the armed forces before 1997 had used up all their benefits by the 10-year limit, Department of Veterans Affairs data show. Continue Reading

Group lobbies for boost in GI payments
By RICK MAZE - Army Times
Posted : Monday Jan 7, 2008

A major military association that will push for improvements in GI Bill benefits in 2008 says its top priority in that area will be the need to finally raise payment rates to cover the average cost of attending a four-year public college. The Military Officers Association of America also wants National Guard and reserve members to receive one month of active-duty education benefits for every month they are mobilized. Continue Reading

Reward for Service
By JIM WEBB and CHUCK HAGEL - Washington Post
Posted : Sunday, November 11, 2007

Nearly a century after the end of the war that was supposed to end all wars, tens of thousands of Americans are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The sacrifices of these brave men and women imbue Veterans Day with special meaning. It requires more than pausing between shopping and football to say thank you.

For example: Lasting fixes are needed for the treatment, rehabilitation and compensation of the returning wounded. The crisis in care and disability has been well-publicized, and it's time Congress act on the recommendations of a bipartisan... Continue Reading

A Post-Iraq G.I. Bill
By JIM WEBB and CHUCK HAGEL - New York Times
Posted : Friday, November 9, 2007

Members of Congress and other political leaders often say that the men and women who have served in our military since 9/11 are the “new greatest generation.” Well, here’s a thought from two infantry combat veterans of the Vietnam era’s “wounded generation”: if you truly believe that our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are like those who fought in World War II, let us provide them with the same G.I. Bill that was given to the veterans of that war. Continue Reading

John Harney: Vets back at school
By John Harney - The Projo News
Posted : Wednesday, Sept 19, 2007 11:43:50 EDT

It's the economic equivalent of sending troops into battle with unarmored Humvees: Though one of the U.S. military’s key recruiting tools is the promise of help paying for college, most New England soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan haven’t a clue what education benefits they are entitled to and the federal government offers them little guidance. ... Continue Reading
 

Vets Welcomed at Colleges