Inside Lights

The GI Bill 50 Years Later" stories, which ran in the June 2 and July 7
issues of Inside Illinois, prompted comments from UI psychology professor
Julian Rappaport.

"[The GI Bill] and related programs also assisted the families of veterans
for many years," Rappaport wrote. "I was 5 years old when my father, a
World War II veteran, died as a result of a military service-connected
disability. When I was old enough to go to college his GI Bill benefits
paid for much of my undergraduate education. 

"Shortly after the end of the war, Congress, concerned about the social and
psychological difficulties experienced by returning veterans, also enacted
legislation creating United States Public Health Service Fellowships to
support, among other things, graduate study in clinical psychology. That
program was still functioning when I entered graduate school, and these
fellowships (not limited to veterans or surviving children, but available
to all qualified applicants) supported me, and many others, for several
years of graduate education.

"The Clinical Psychology Program in the department of psychology here at
the UI was among the first in the nation to apply for and receive these
Public Health Service Grants that helped us to train service providers,
scholars and researchers who now work in universities and mental health
facilities throughout the nation."