But the World War II veterans who took advantage of the G.I. Bill of Rights to gain a college education got a lot more out of the deal than today's vets, say advocates and some key lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

A series of revisions to the G.I. Bill since World War II turned what had been a "thank you" from the U.S. government for military service into a recruitment tool, but one not nearly as generous as the original. What once paid for an entire four-year degree and kept food on the table for a penny-pinching student now leaves many vets using today's Montgomery G.I. Bill shelling out plenty to attend college.

"We've time and again shown that the disparities from the current G.I. Bill that was introduced as a peacetime recruitment device just does not measure up to the service that our people have been giving," said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., the principle backer for a modernized G.I. Bill, at a Feb. 13 news conference in Washington.

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For example, Webb's staff found that the average yearly payout for a today's G.I. Bill came to about $5,800 for room, board and tuition. Problem is, the average cost for a year of public college comes to a whopping $17,400 -- nearly three times today's payout for education benefits of military service.

"We've got to come forward and bring into existence a G.I. educational bill that is framed for the 21st Century," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. "If we are going to continue to meet the high standards of our all volunteer force … we must have the best people and we must incentivize those people."

So Webb, Hagel and more than 30 other senators have teamed with veterans' advocacy groups to draft the "Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act." Their upgraded G.I. Bill would provide full tuition, room and board for veterans of the active duty military as long as they'd served after Sept. 11, 2001.

The bill would go further, however, by providing a $1,000 cash stipend, up to $1,200 annually for tutoring assistance, and it would pay for any testing fees for licensing after graduation.

"We view the G.I. Bill as the cost of war," said Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a strong proponent of Webb's bill. "The troops in Fallujah and Kandahar deserve the same commitment from our nation in war as those who fought in Normandy and Guadalcanal."

Lawmakers are still fine tuning the bill and are looking at adding language that would include benefits for National Guard and Reserve veterans, many of whom have deployed for combat tours since 9/11.

But the bill's future is clouded by politics and the upcoming presidential election, advocates say. The first bill died in committee last year under partisan budget wrangling - some lawmakers objected to the new G.I. Bill's cost, which is double the current program’s $2 billion price tag.

"It doesn't matter where you stand on this war, but you have a moral obligation to support the folks who served," Rieckhoff added.

And it's a cost that most are willing to pay as a tribute to the service of veterans who've seen tough fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the global war against terrorism.

"I just think that this is a no-brainer for the United States government to reward service in a way that is commensurate to the service that was given," Webb said. "And it's been an eye-opener over the past year to see that this is in any way viewed as political."

(Photo: David Smith)

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