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The greatest legislation
The GI Bill fundamentally changed America by making college affordable to millions of middle class Americans. Previous to World War II, college was primarily for the wealthy and elite classes in America. The GI Bill changed all that and many other things along the way. Congress passed the GI Bill because members were concerned about how to successfully assimilate millions of returning war veterans into American life and specifically into the American economy. Henry Colmery authored the original legislation, and that strikes me as particularly interesting because he was a former Republican National Chairman. One of the nation's most significant pieces of social legislation that opened up new opportunities to millions and has been characterized as a great feat of social engineering came from a leader of the Republican party - the party of laissez faire. More than 2.2 million veterans returned from the war and stormed the ivory towers of America. They took degrees in engineering, business, sciences, and humanities. They swelled by millions the number of college graduates in America; the number of students graduating from college in America increased by more than 4.5 times or more than 7 million from 1939 to 1969. This growth was fueled by the GI Bill and by new technologies that were developed during the war. Aviation advancements, nuclear energy, and a new global position of economic power gave rise to opportunities for millions of new college graduates. They formed a prosperous and powerful new middle class in America. They settled down and became successful professionals, entrepreneurs, and business people; their average incomes increased by more than four times within 25 years, and they grew families, creating the great baby boom, which is still the largest generation in America's history. The impact of the GI Bill went far beyond what even its most optimistic original supporters could have imagined. It set free the abilities of millions of returning service men and women, enabling them to begin businesses and professional careers that would never have been within their reach otherwise. My own family has a Ph.D. agricultural engineer who was educated on the GI Bill and for whom life's best prospect prior to the war was sharecropping a small farm in Georgia. Many of Sterling's greatest generation were also educated as a result of the GI Bill, and they've brought prosperity and economic vitality to this area while also serving as committed citizens through government and volunteer work. They've built the institutions of this community and this country upon which we stand today. Thomas Jefferson, who founded the University of Virginia, put it most eloquently more than 200 years ago when he said, "The most important role of education in a democracy is to nurture citizens who are productive and responsible and capable of earning a living, making informed decisions and stepping into leadership." The veterans of World War II returned to America and took up education in a way that had never been seen before in all of history, they have lived and embodied this statement by Jefferson. They proved that he was exactly right. Today we face a future that is as uncertain as the one faced by young people on Dec. 7, 1941, as they learned of the attack on Pear Harbor. Today's young people will inherit problems of global strife, terrorism, climate change, national debt, fierce global competition and a vast retiring baby-boom generation, which will create enormous health care needs. How can they face such an uncertain and foreboding future and leave a legacy like those who fought in World War II? They must be able to unleash all of their creative and analytical abilities in order to be successful. We need every engineer, doctor and diplomat that God has provided among our younger generations to work at the height of their ability. As with the greatest generation, who spawned the GI Bill, we must set free their talents and abilities through education and economic opportunity, and with faith, diligence and global cooperation they will also rise to tomorrow's challenges.--Dr. Lance Bolton is the president of Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Col. He is the son of Ed and Ginger Bolton of Swainsboro.
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