History of the GI Bill
In the heat of World War II fighting, President Franklin D. Roosevelt turned his thoughts to what would happen at the end of World War II, when floods of American troops and sailors returned home to pick up the pieces of their civilian lives. He wanted to help those returning GIs, many of whom were only 17 or 18 when they left for war in 1941. He was determined that this time the U.S. Government would not fail the soldiers and sailors returning from war. Roosevelt had in mind the lessons of World War I. After that war, troops returned home to find that other people now had their jobs. Many were restless and without direction, unable to find a role in civilian life. They were given little help and fewer opportunities.