"Your service is important to us; please wait..."

One of the major social and economic stimulus programs that were implemented after the Second World War was the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the G.I. Bill. It was the country’s way of saying thank you to veterans returning from the war by giving them access to academic and vocational education (through tuition payments and living expense allowances), low-cost mortgages and low-interest business loans.

The G.I. Bill (although not without its inequities) was one of the true wonders of the post-war world. For many vets, it was their ticket into the middle class for themselves and their children.

In 2008, Congress passed another bill, the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act, which was meant to update the G.I. Bill for the 21^st Century, with a focus on college education. But perhaps that bill should have had some provision for also updating the Veterans Administration computer system, because monies that should have been paid to veterans pursuing higher education are not getting to them.

Because the 50-year-old computer system…broke. The VA rejigged the formulas for payment calculations, and the system couldn’t deal. There’s a lot of congressional and VA hand-flapping going on. But no solutions.

Great way to close out the week of Veterans Day, eh?