Overly Generous Military Benefits

The Sept. 26 news story "Veterans Get Some Relief With Tuition" left out an important detail about the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The law not only offers tuition benefits to GIs; it also extends such funding to some children of serving military members. This taxpayer giveaway is both unnecessary and inappropriate.

Members of the armed forces are volunteers. Unlike yesterday's conscripts, today's professionals make a career choice. We owe them respect and decent compensation, and we give them both. We also subsidize their housing, health care, and cigarette and liquor purchases. Whether service members engage in combat or perform hazardous duties on par with firefighters or police officers, they collectively enjoy hero status and a menu of taxpayer-provided services that would make a socialist drool.

Our military is extraordinary, and we should all be proud of its dedication and service. We are, indeed, getting what we're paying for. But the pendulum has swung too far from shabby Vietnam-era treatment to unreflective adulation. By what logic should a struggling wage-earner subsidize the university education for the child of an already well-compensated military officer?

DAVID MALCOLM ROBINSON

Alexandria