Evaluating the impacts of conscription and service during World War II for young, returning
veterans post-war 1945-1948.
Roldán Santiago Moreno
May 18th, 2016
Word count: 2140
Candidate number: ________
Moreno 2
Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of Sources
The focus of this paper will be the evaluation of the impacts of conscription and service during
World War II for young, returning veterans post-war 1945-1948. In John C. Sparrow’s study History of
Personnel Demobilization in the United States Army, he noted the army began to demobilize with the
defeat of Germany in May of 1945. At the time, the United States had more than 12 million men and
women deployed. The return of so many troops presented several complications for citizens and veterans
alike, from housing and employment to health and family. With the strenuous conditions of war, soldiers
experience unusual hardships that disrupt independence and stability. Once soldiers return home, they
must readjust to civilian life. Veterans’ lives post-war is a topic that is often overlooked or sidelined yet is
of importance in a society that has dealt with war.
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 or “GI Bill of Rights” provided many benefits for
veterans post-war including vocational rehabilitation, access to low-interest mortgages, and stipends
covering tuition and living expenses at colleges or trade schools. Additionally, “War Neurosis,
Adjustment Problems in Veterans, and an Ill Nation” by Hans Pols explores psychiatrists’ work during
the 1940s. Topics discussed in Pols’ journal article include psychiatry’s role in soldier treatment, side
effects of service, civilian response to returning soldiers, changed behaviors, and effects on relationships.
Harry W. Colmery, a former commander, is credited with writing the first draft of the GI Bill.
Colmery handwrote the bill and introduced it to the House and Senate in January 1944. The purpose of
this legislation was to provide veterans with benefits through postwar assistance program that bridged the
transition from wartime. The bill outlines benefits for veterans such as grants for college tuition, lowinterest mortgages, job training, and unemployment payments. Above all else, the value of the GI Bill is
that it is a primary source since it was a bill passed during the time period. The document demonstrates
how the U.S. government was aware of the incoming flood of veterans that would seek employment thus
requiring action to facilitate reintegration with society. Furthermore, Colmery served during World War I
and drew upon his personal experiences of leaving service with little help in planning his future to draft
Moreno 3
the bill. As to limitations, the GI Bill does not provide any firsthand accounts on the US bolstering its
infrastructure to accommodate the influx of veterans, it merely outlines benefits veterans are to receive.
Additionally, in its first iteration, GI Bill could not fully address the extent of needs the veterans had.
“War Neurosis…” was written by professor Hans Pols and published in 2007. Pols is a faculty
member at the University of Sydney where he focuses on the history and sociology of psychiatry. The
journal article was written for psychiatrists and historians interested in veteran adjustment problems. The
secondary source discusses shifts in the field of psychology World War II and explores topics such as
veteran psychiatry, changes in treatment for soldiers, side effects of war on veterans, and ociety’s
response to returning veterans. This research piece is valuable because the author is an expert in my
topic’s field and has had his work peer-reviewed. Furthermore, the article provides an alternative
perspective to my topic. Some limitations of Pol’s research are that it is largely based on psychiatrists’
work limiting relevance to my research question. Additionally, this research contains no interviews and is
more of an informative paper than a study as a result of being written after the events.
Moreno 4
Section 2: Investigation
While the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 fell short in providing adequate housing and
medical attention for veterans, the legislation served as a crucial step in reintegrating veterans back into
society through a variety of government benefits that eased the transition from soldier to civilian.
Following the war, veterans experienced hardships in four main areas of which the government provided
varying levels of support to aid in reintegration. The primary hardship veterans experienced was
vagrancy. With 15 million returning veterans, acquiring a job and permanent shelter could prove to be a
challenge. Many soldiers started families before or during the war and subsequently came back to homes
with affected family dynamics or martial issues as a result of extended periods of separation. Next, a
significant amount of soldiers experienced changes in mental and emotional health. Disorders like PTSD
and depression were common among veterans. Lastly, wounds and disease took a toll on veterans who
now faced handicapping and permanent ailments severely restricting employment outlook.
One of the main concerns surrounding the influx of troops was veterans lining up the streets and
the United States entering a recession as it had done so post-World War I. To combat vagrancy and an
economic downfall, the GI Bill addressed housing needs by providing veterans with low interest or zero
down payment home loans (Jackson 206). Moreover, the 52-20 clause enabled servicemen to receive
unemployment benefits while seeking employment. The 52-20 clause granted veterans an allowance of
twenty dollars a week over a fifty-two week grace period in order to look for employment (United States).
While the Readjustment Allowance’s twenty-dollar per week income did not provide sufficient means
from which to live on, ninety two percent of veterans found it to be helpful in job-seeking efforts (Meyer
and Smigel 345). Hastily set up, temporary and emergency housing met the initial waves of returning
WWII veterans. Efforts to refurbish existing infrastructure were put into place to accommodate veterans
in large city dwellings such as apartments (“Homeless Veterans”) while suburban construction began.
Ultimately, by offering favorable home loans veterans and their families saw a move towards into the
suburbs (Jackson 206). Thanks to housing and employment benefits mass vagrancy was largely avoided
Moreno 5
as a result of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act. The 52-20 clause strategically placed money in
veterans’ hands boosting consumer purchasing power while improving the national economy by putting
more money into circulation.
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act featured no counseling opportunities for veteran family and
marital issues nor civilian reintegration, yet these issues presented significant hardships for veterans. With
deployment, soldiers were often gone for several years. Many soldiers had started families or were
starting families when drafted to go to war. As a result of extended absences, relationships with spouses
and children became strained. Immediately after World War II, the US saw a spike in divorces leveling
off into the 1950s (Pavalko and Elder 1215). Relationships with children also suffered as soldiers
represented an empty and distant father figure for children growing up (Tolchin). Without the friendships
soldiers had made in the army, civilian life became cold and harsh for veterans (Pols 84). Furthermore,
small towns suddenly felt small for the veterans who had now travelled across several countries. As a
result of these dramatic changes, soldiers became alienated and detached from their families ultimately
getting divorced (Pols 85). With the lack of proper treatment and counseling, traumatic experiences
during the war pervaded veterans’ everyday lives harming integrity of family. New independence and unrelatable combat memories made communication with family members particularly difficult.
Mental and emotional health was a primary concern surrounding veterans in the public view.
Problems like PTSD, violent behavior, depression, and alcohol abuse were all associated with veterans
and frightened the American public. During the war, reports of soldiers who could not continue fighting
were rampant and shown to be on the rise (Pols 71). Anxiety attacks, repetitive nightmares, stuttering,
mutism, and amnesia were all reported side effects of war on soldiers (Pols 77). Despite these symptoms,
the proper treatment and knowledge did not exist for veterans. As the field of psychology grew
fragmented with opposing viewpoints little progress was made to aid veterans. Despite this, Veteran
Affairs hospitals held an optimistic view citing 70% of veterans were fit for social recovery and economic
adjustment (“Fewer GI’s Held”). With the fragmentation in the psychiatry community, it would not be for
another 35 years after the war for PTSD’s diagnostic criterion to be written. As a result a variety of
Moreno 6
diseases such as anxiety neurosis, depressive neurosis, melancholia, anti-social personality, and
schizophrenia were diagnosed for veterans suffering from other if not more mental diseases (Pols 79).
Physical ailments were significant inconveniences for veterans who found themselves with new
health issues ranging from irregular pulse to permanent brain injuries. Men with injuries found it
particularly difficult when returning from war as they were expected to be the main caregivers to the
family. With amputations or other physical disabilities veterans were unable to hold jobs or support their
family leading the family into a state of vagrancy (“Veterans Homeless”). Amputees from World War II
found it difficult to obtain artificial limbs, however, Congress quickly authorized the VA to fill the need
(VA History in Brief). Overtime the VA would become a world leader in the development of prosthetic
devices. Physical toils also fail to account for casualties. The Department of Veteran Affairs reported
nearly 700,000 men and women were wounded while approximately 400,000 were killed (VA History in
Brief).
When looking back at mental health, both first person and third party accounts confirm the fact
that mental healthcare was lacking at the time. In an interview Carol Vento, a veteran’s daughter, recalls
the lack of treatment available in the 1940s. Specifically, her father had attempted to get help yet was
repeatedly dismissed not being cleared with 100% disability until he was 80. Similarly, Ron Langer
investigated combat trauma, memory, and World War II veterans finding that diagnostic criteria for PTSD
simply did not exist narrowing treatment options for veterans to next to nothing. With PTSD’s criterion
not being finalized until the 1980s, Schultz’s claim to severely delayed disability acknowledgement
stands true.
The issues presented above expose many of the conditions and hardships veterans experienced
post-war but also highlight the level of treatment and care veterans received during this time period. The
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act greatly alleviated the strains American veterans would have undergone
without programs and benefits otherwise. It is clear that robust and developed plans are necessary to best
accommodate veterans on returning home.
Moreno 7
Psychological effects can be singled out as the most important topic of this research. Ultimately, many of
the subsequent diseases or problems encountered by veterans are as a result of mental health deteriorating.
As explained, mental health problems can lead to physical ailments while disorders like PTSD can render
individuals unfit for work, school, or even regular interactions with others. PTSD was not made
diagnosable until 1980 after World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War had passed.
To conclude conscription had a long-term effect at not only veterans’ individual level in terms of
physical health, vagrancy, family, and mental health but to society as a whole placing an importance on
infrastructure and research in the field of psychiatry.
Moreno 8
Section 3: Reflection
To conduct my research, I went to Rice University’s Fondren Library to gather print resources at a
collegiate level. Additionally, I used Rice’s online databases to collect resources that extended beyond the
extent of the university’s library. Using the databases allowed me to retrieve both newspaper archives and
contemporary journal articles. While researching my topic I made sure to look for multiple points-of-view
and various sources to backup my findings. While I was able to gather material from psychiatrists,
newspapers, and government administrations firsthand accounts from veterans themselves have been
more difficult to come across. Fortunately, a few of my sources contain veteran accounts making my
research well rounded.
Closely evaluating a source in terms of its origin, purpose, content, value, and limitations allow you to
single out not only reliable sources but also strong sources from average sources. Examining a source’s
origin reveals whether the author is qualified for your topic and establishes any possible bias. Sources
may also be intended for specific audiences limiting the relevance to your topic if incongruent you’re
your research aims. Next, by determining the purpose of the document, why it was written, you can
determine whether the source is fit for your research topic. Evaluating the content itself gauges whether
your topic is reported on properly and is relevant while value judges the quality and type of sources.
Finally, limitations bring attention to weaknesses in the document such as missing information or
incorrect time periods.
The role of the historian is to report on past events answering why and how events unfolded. Historians
must undertake serious research to get a big picture of an event or topic. Information must be backed by a
variety of sources including newspapers, government records, maps, paintings, photographs, letters,
diaries, trials, and more. The historian must then interpret the information available to form conclusions
analyzing causes and effects, weighing in on facts for relevance and purpose. Finally, the historian must
be able to present all his or her findings in a organized, refined way that is digestible by generations to
come.
Moreno 9
Works Cited
“Fewer GI’s Held as Mental Cases: Hospitalization Rate Is Now Below That of World War I, VA
Psychiatrist Says.” The New York Times. 30 July 1947: 10. Print. 8 Dec. 2015.
“Homeless Veterans: Big Cities Try in Vain To Find Dwellings for More and More Ex-GIs.” The Wall
Street Journal 15 Nov. 1945: 1. Print. 8 Dec. 2015.
Jackson, Kenneth T. "Federal Subsidy and the Suburban Dream." Crabgrass Frontier: The
Suburbanization of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985. 206. Print.
Meyer, Henry L., and Erwin O. Smigel. “Job-seeking and the Readjustment Allowance for Veterans”.
American Journal of Sociology 56.4 (1951): 341-347. Print.
Pavalko, Eliza K., and Glen H. Elder. “World War II and Divorce: A Life-course Perspective”. American
Journal of Sociology 95.5 (1990): 1213-1234. Print.a
Pols, Hans. “War Neurosis, Adjustment Problems in Veterans, and an Ill Nation: The Disciplinary Project
of American Psychiatry During and After World War II”. Osiris 22 (2007): 72-92. Print.
Sparrow, John C. "A General Background to the United States." History of Personnel Demobilization in
the United States Army. N.p.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1952. 19-21. Print.
Tolchin, Martin. "Most Veterans Reluctant To Tell Children of War." The New York Times [New York
City] 11 Nov. 1958: 33. Print.
United States. Cong. Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. By United
States. 78 Cong., 2nd sess. Cong 371. Washington D.C.: n.p., 1944. OurDocuments.gov. The
National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
VA History in Brief. Washington, DC: Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Office of Public Affairs, 1997. Print.
Veterans Benefits Administration. "About GI Bill: History and Timeline." Benefits.va.gov. U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs, 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.