Enacted 80 years ago, the GI Bill of Rights changed my life after serving in the Vietnam War.

Benefits from the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, its official name, funded my college education leading to my 50-year career and helped in purchasing my first home. My story is not unique. The GI Bill is considered one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever produced by Congress. The act has been life changing, past and present, for millions of veterans.

It was dubbed the GI Bill of Rights because it offered every GI Joe and GI Jane the building blocks of what would become the American dream: low-cost loans to buy a home, start a business, and, perhaps most importantly, receive a college education or career training after they took off their military uniforms. In general, the bill helped veterans to adjust to civilian life again.

My father, an Army disabled vet from World War II, did not benefit greatly from the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944. He was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, six months after the legislation was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on June 22, just over two weeks after D-Day.

Before WWII, only one third of Americans had finished high school. And most of those who’d completed 12 years of schooling, like Dad, had little idea of further education. My father admitted he didn’t have much book sense in school. College was unthinkable.

His war injuries also prevented him from returning to his old job at the Santa Fe Railroad where he was working when the war started. He received a meager pension after the war and did not become a homeowner.

Dad always encouraged me to get an education through the GI Bill, saying it’s the most important opportunity for me to use in bettering myself, living the American dream and enjoying a promising future.

He was right, of course.

Education and training benefits were the most popular parts of the GI Bill, claimed by roughly half of the 16 million WWII veterans, according to the Veterans Administration. Some 2.2 million attended college or graduate school, and 5.6 million prepared for vocations in fields such as auto mechanics, electrical wiring, and construction.

My life-changing journey began in 1970. With the GI Bill’s education benefit, I became the first college graduate in my family and was able to avoid significant student loan debt. VA loans also helped in purchasing three homes since moving to Johnson County more than four decades ago. My current home has been refinanced four times in 18 years with lower interest rates.

Over eight decades, the GI Bill was extended several times, helping 10.3 million more veterans after the Korean and Vietnam wars, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2008, a version known as the Post 9/11 GI Bill passed Congress. More recently, the Harry W. Colmery (a Kansan who helped to draft the GI Bill of 1944) Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also known as the Forever GI Bill, expanded benefits in 2017.

Our nation owes the best GI Bill benefits possible to those who serve – past, present, future – in our armed forces. It’s not something that should be subject to bureaucratic economies or congressional budgetary maneuvering. Those who have served honorably have kept their end of the bargain. The nation has the timeless obligation to do likewise. Yes, I’m very biased about supporting all our veterans and defending benefits they have earned. They deserve nothing less.

The 80th anniversary of the GI Bill is a fitting celebration this year at the Johnson County Veterans Day observance. The public event will take place at 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 11, in the Lenexa National Guard Armory.

Let’s gather and thank all our veterans for their military service.

That’s all we want.