Evening star. [volume], September 15, 1946, Page 5, Image 80

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
unfortunately do not yet understand this.
James Stevens, a Marine who lost a leg on
Saipan, is a typical veteran who is com
pensating for his war injuries through out
standing work. Only a so-so salesman before
the wai, he asked for his old job back when
he was discharged from the hospital. His
employer, fearing that Jim could no longer
stand the constant traveling and walking,
offered him an office position instead. Jim
insisted that he had veteran’s rights to his old
job, and he finally got it.
Early in July. Jim was the leading salesman
in his district for 1946, with sales more than
triple his best prewar record. ‘‘Besides prov
ing to my boss that I am a better salesman
than ever." he said, "I’m also proving it to
myself. That means a lot to me.”
And more important, the problems arising
between employers and veterans have been
far fewer than anticipated. As one large
printing-concern president who now employs
400 ex-servicemen says: "Our experience with
veterans has convinced me that they are
potentially the best employees in the labor
force today. I’m so sold on this that I keep a
sign on my wall for every department head to
see.’’ Here it is:
Why Veterans Are Good Job Bets
Youth : Four-fifths are under 30.
Education: Two-thirds have
been to high school.
Health: The best of any group
in America.
Adaptability: They know how
to work with others.
A year ago. the calamity-howlers were
warning us about instability among veterans.
We all heard a lot of hair-raising predictions
about what would happen when millions of
neurotic, hard-bitten men who had been
“trained to kill” returned home.
It is true that many men endured emotional
tension and pressures in combat that civilians
rarely experience in peacetime, and some of
them still carry mental scars. But the men
who formed our Army and Navy were put
through the most careful mental screening of
any force in the world. Nearly 2.000,000 men
were rejected for military service because they
had tendencies toward mental instability.
Another half-million who exhibited similar
tendencies alter they entered service were dis
charged.
On the average, men who have left service
since fhe war ended nre more stable mentally
than a comparable group of civilians.
An indication of veterans' stability is their
relatively low crime rate. Careful analysis of
crime figures shows that veterans are commit
ting proportionately fewer crimes than other
groups in our population.
It's a Civilian Crime Wave
As J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI,
pointed out in This Week last year, “You
can’t induct a whole segment of the popula
tion into the armed forces without getting
some who are criminally inclined- They
would have been criminals under any circum
stances and probably more active ones
because of greater opportunity... We already
have the makings of an early crime wave.
But it is not primarily a soldier crime wave;
it is a crime wave of the solder’s younger
brothers and sisters.” In other words, today’s
increase in crime is due mainly to juvenile
delinquents.
Convincing proot ot the ertorts veterans are
making to get back into the swing of civilian
living is the huge number flocking to schools
and colleges this fall. By next month, well
over a million will be students again. Another
quarter-million may be turned away because
bulging academic halls can be stretched no
further to admit them, even though service
men are given admission preference by nearly
all colleges and universities.
The clash of military practicality with
academic theory is already producing some
interesting results on both. Most college
authorities advise returning veterans that
curriculum selections should include liberal
arts courses to prepare them for the “broad
problem of adult life.” But servicemen insist
on taking courses that will help them earn the
best possible living in the shortest possible
time.
A series of compromises has resulted.
Colleges have added many technical
courses, kept them moving at a wartime
pace. For their part, veterans are buckling
down to liberal arts courses that are “good
for them.” The results seem promising. After
the first semester, during which they polish
•up rusty study skills, veterans average con
sistently higher grades than civilian students.
Another urgent social problem involving
veterans is the mounting divorce rate. Here
is a situation for which the public at large
must assume a share of the blame. The mar
riages of soldiers and sailors were subject to
more tensions than those of people who stayed
at home. Yet all evidence points to the hous
ing shortage as the major villain in the story.
Marital readjustment in most cases would
probably have proceeded successfully had the
veteran and his wife not faced the additional
obstacle of cramped living space and resulting
difficulties.
By all odds, the veteran’s most serious
problem — and one still to be licked — is the
RESEARCH EXPERT Lyle Spencer
served in Army's Information
and Education branch in Africa
and Europe, emerged lieutenant
colonel. He is today director
of Science Research Associates
4
_ *
acute housing shortage. The Veterans Admin
istration’s careful Research Service recently
reported that nearly two-thirds of all veterans
it surveyed are living doubled-up with rela
tives or friends. The great majority need
houses or apartments with six rooms or less.
and more than tour-rifths cannot afford more
than $50 a month for rent.
Solving the housing problem would also
solve other problems that many veterans face.
Ted Nelson, who served a hitch in the Pacific,
reports that he has taken three drafting jobs
in and around Detroit which he had to give up
because weeks of searching failed to find any
place to bring his wife and two children. “I
can’t get settled until I find a decent place to
live,” he states. “I can always find another
job, but I’ve only got one family.”
A Big Task Ahead
Despite the large numbers of home-building
programs that are slowly getting under way,
it may be years before all veterans are ade
quately housed. Prompt, vigorous support of
veterans' housing programs at all levels —
community, state and national — is needed.
Now, just a year after V-J Day, the cheer
ing and flag-waving days for veterans are over
— as happens quickly in our country after all
wars. Many servicemen are already forgetting
to wear their discharge buttons, and it is
becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish
them from other citizens. This is as it should be.
The worry-birds had their say all during
the war about the returning vet being unfit
for the humdrum existence of life at home.
Studies show how wrong such predictions
were. Veterans themselves have proved their
case by their performances in domestic, eco
nomic and scholastic life. During the war,
they represented the pick of American
citizenry — and they still do. The End
i ■ ii it1 ini nw i iiiminiimi i NiiiiiiiMwnii'in—MWfluni ■"! WBWBitfWMinWBiliir
VETERANS PROCRESS
THE PROBLEM
EMPLOYMENT
INSTABILITY
CRIME
DIVORCE
EDUCATION
H0USIN6
Present Situation
More than 8 out of 9
vets seeking work are
now employed.
Greatly exaggerated.
Vets not major cause of
current crime wave.
Very high.
Over 1.200.000 vetit
in school this fall.
About 00 per cent of
vets forced to live with
parents or friends.
Civilians now holding
most of the better jobs.
Ix>wer for vets.
Lower for vets.
High for both.
Veterans make better
grades than civilians.
Civilians far better off.
Outlook
Continued improve
ment tor veterans.
No cause for alarm.
Rising crime wave.
Rate will continue to
rise for some time.
270,000 others kept
from entering school
this year by over
crowding.
Serious overcrowding
for several years.
!
Future Need
i
----— "
#
*
Higher paying jobs oiieruig bet
ter oromotion opportunities for
former servicemen.
Overcome public misunder
standing on subject.
Community programs to reduce
juvenile delinquency.
---— . "" ’
Better facilities for solving prob
lems before appealing to courts
— and more housing.
Enlarged facilities in schools vets
want to attend.
2,600.000 more dwelling units for
veterans and families.