Topic Tuesday #67 2013/10/29 - "When The Boys Came Home"

Beginning after VJ-Day in 1945, millions of soldiers were out of a job, Veterans from the largest conflict the world had ever seen. What the hell did they do next?
Why do I ask?
Glad you asked, and I will answer with another question. What will happen when the U.S.A. has to reduce the defense budget by double digit percentages, in 2014 with the next round of sequestration cuts? A lot of men and women will be looking for something to do. Something to feed their families.
What will they do? I thought it appropriate to look at history for an indicator of what we are about to repeat.
Brief review of WWII:

January 1938, seeing the writing on the wall, Roosevelt call for a massive rearmament program.
August 1939, Einstein sends a letter to Roosevelt warning that Germany may develop nuclear weapons.
September 1939, The United States declare neutrality, Canada Declares war on Germany.
October 1939, The U.S. begins a modest nuclear program.
September 1940, The U.S. enacts a peacetime draft.
December 1940, Roosevelt delivers "Arsenal of Democracy" speech, pledging to supply Great Britan with war materials.
February 1941, American Scientist Glenn Seaborg discovers plutonium.
March 1941, Roosevelt signs the "Lend-Lease Act"
June 1941, Roosevelt signs Executive Order 8802, banning discrimination in hiring in defense factories.
July 1941, U.S. suspends diplomatic relations with Japan.
August 1941, U.S. announces an oil embargo vs. aggressor states and signs the "Atlantic Charter" with Great Britan
December 1941, Pearl Harbor is attacked prompting the U.S. to declare war on Japan.
January 1942, Tire rationing begins in the U.S. while the Nazis hold the Wannsee Conference to coordinate "The Final Solution of the Jewish Question"
February 1942, Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans
April 1942, First attack on Japan via U.S.S. Hornet aircraft carrier, the "Bataan Death March" begins, as does the results of EO 9066.
May 1942, Gas Rationing begins in the U.S.
August 1942, Manhattan Engineering District (Manhattan Project) created by the Army Corps of Engineers: the U.S. effort to design an atomic bomb.
October 1942, Manhattan Project is given highest wartime priority rating by the War Production Board.
December 1942, First nuclear reactor goes critical at the University of Chicago under the leadership of Enrico Fermi.
February 1943, Construction begins at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on uranium enrichment facility.
March 1943, U.S. begins processed food rationing
July 1943, 25 Benito Mussolini is arrested by order of the Italian King, ending the Fascist regime in Italy.
June 1944, D-Day (Operation Overlord), the Allied invasion of Normandy, France. The U.S. signs the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 into law, commonly known as the G.I. Bill of Rights
October 1944, Three-day naval Battle of Leyte Gulf; U.S. decisively defeats Japan in one of the largest naval battles in history. Later Japan begins Kamikaze flights.
December 1944, The Battle of the Bulge begins as Germans launch Operation Wacht am Rhein.
January 1945, Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz death camp in Poland.
March 1945, V-2 Rockets campaign against Britan, U.S. Bomb Tokyo to bits.
April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage; Vice President Harry Truman becomes president.
May 1945, German Chief-of-Staff, General Jodl, signs Germany's unconditional surrender to the western Allies and Russia. VE-Day (Victory-in-Europe Day) proclaimed.
June 1945, United Nations charter signed in San Francisco.
July 1945, First U.S. atomic bomb test (codenameTrinity) successfully
August 1945, Little Boy and Fat Man and make landfall in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, prompting Japan to surrender 5 days later. V-J Day.
October 1945, The United Nations comes formally into existence.

Obviously there was much more that happened, but those are some highlights. Now with all that, the troops, the men, the soldiers, the veterans and survivors came home.

Thanks to the 1944 Servicemen's readjustment Act, returning heroes could get low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, cash payments of tuition and living expenses to attend college, high school or vocational education, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. 8.8 million veterans had taken advantage of the program before it ended in 1956. Thanks to the forethought of the FDR administration and veterans affairs lobbyists, the G.I. Bill set the groundwork for a successful reintegration of disciplined and skilled Americans. Education (51% of returning WWII Vets took advantage of the tuition program) allowed them to get jobs, or if there wasn't one to be had, they could get low interest small business loans.

We respectfully took care of those that had served. What will we do when the Cold War ends?

It ended? You say...

When? I ask. 1991 says the web...

Then Why do we still spend so much on the military? When did we stop?

We never did. We have a juggernaut war machine in place, that just keeps eating our resources.

As we continue to talk about exit strategies... Has anyone heard of any reintegration plans for those that will be exiting the services? I have not. I also have not seen us exit any conflict.
The economists are looking at the bottom line. They know as well as you or I, that the war machine needs a diet. We spend as much as our allies combined on "defense". Why? Don't answer, it doesn't matter.
What matters is that it needs to stop, and we need an exit strategy and a reintegration plan. We don't need more fear.
So... As the next round of sequester cuts steadily marches towards us, and the government pulls the belt in another notch, what will those that have lost their jobs do?
Will they be able to get a small business loan? Will they be able to get an affordable education if they go back to school? Are there enough vocational schools out there to fill the need? Are there enough homeless shelters to house what we have now, much less an influx of displaced humans?
No. For the most part the answer to all these questions is no.
Why?
What can we do?
I'm going to write a letter to my representatives to find out what the plan is. To see if they have thought this out. I'll let you know, please do the same.