USMC (r) 1969-1975, honorable discharge, no benefits

Augusta , GA

VIETNAM hung over my head every day until I was discharged.
Eighteen years old, a plane flight from New York's Kennedy Airport to Charlotte. I remember landing in what seemed to be a dirt runway in the middle of the night, destination Parris Island. A bus picked us up and brought us to the training camp's main gate. We were met with yelling and screaming to get off the bus; our training had begun. So after our training of 8 weeks in HELL, I was sent to MCRD San Diego for more training communcation com center. It was California, but still HELL of another kind.
I am getting to the GI BILL portion of my story. After my com training in MCRD, I was told to report to my unit in Halesite, N.Y., a small Navy and Marine Corps base thanks to the Germans in WW2.
Unit activation for the postal strike: in 1972/73 I received a year off my duty for that activation, so for five years I was owned by the government and could be ordered to anywhere in the world on 1 hour's notice. For that time the only thing i received was a honorable discharge which I am proud to hold, but no benefits from the GI Bill. No benefits at all. I'm not even sure if I get buried for free. That's my story.
My feelings are that anyone who served and received a discharge that was good should receive equal benefits. End of story.

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