President Obama Launches Post-9/11 GI Bill

winning this war for us." That is precisely what the American people did. The GI Bill was approved just weeks after D-Day, and carried with it a simple promise to all who had served: You pick the school, we'll help pick up the bill. And what followed was not simply an opportunity for our veterans -- it was a transformation for our country. By 1947, half of all Americans enrolled in college were veterans. Ultimately, this would lead to three Presidents, three Supreme Court justices, 14 ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuO-mHfbpRk&hl=en

Ditching Planes in Long Island Sound

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Early summer through late fall of 1946, occasionally photographs were in the New York's daily newspapers of Navy fighter aircraft having to ditch in the water off the south shore of Long Island due to engine trouble. The pilot always escaped unharmed by swimming or wading ashore to small crowds of well-to-do and very sympathetic greeters who owned palatial estates. These empathic observers would treat the dear hero pilot as if he had won WWII single-handedly. They housed the pilot in their home for the weekend, feeding him and providing him clothes. They even hosted parties to honor this hero; then on Monday, furnished him transportation back to Floyd Bennett NAS in a limousine.

In early spring of that year, I had enlisted in the naval fighter group based at Floyd Bennett NAS to get more fighter air time. Our skipper was a decorated Pacific fleet four year veteran. Since this was a reserve Navy program, we all had regular jobs elsewhere. Our skipper's job was being a butcher in Brooklyn.

My first day after enlistment, the skipper called me to his office, "Does your flight testing take you south of Long Island?" When he learned it did, he ordered, "I want you to keep me informed as to the location of the best looking, largest estates on the south shore of Long Island. And, you being a test pilot, I want you to check all the older fighter planes assigned to our group and give me a list identifying the worst ones."

Thereafter, I thought I occasionally saw a cadre of the skipper's old WWII buddies in a corner drawing straws.

Wayne Harding, author of his fiction book His Edge, was a civilian test pilot after being a naval pilot in WWII. He tested F4U Corsairs, flying production and experimental. His novel, His Edge, traces a young talented pilot who must deal with life and death dangers while struggling with issues of faith, love, integrity, and good versus evil. Visit http://www.hisedgethebook.com/

An Inside Look at the Longwood Student Veteran's Group

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Did you know that Longwood University is one of the only schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia that has a Student Veterans group? In the next couple of years, the number of student veterans on college campuses is going to increase immensely and every university should have a group like this on campus to better help these student veterans transition to their civilian life. Longwood University has had this organization for a year now and it is all thanks to one brave gentlemen, Greg Serwo. As a student veteran himself, Greg Serwo attends Longwood University and plans to graduate in May 2010. As a former active duty Marine and current Air Reserves man, Greg wanted to get involved with student veteran issues.

While transitioning to campus, Greg realized that there was no veteran-specific support available at Longwood University. It all started in the Summer of 2008 because of an assignment for Ms. Mary Caroll-Hackett's English 400 class, Greg wrote a proposal to start a program on campus for student veterans. After having experienced the struggle of transitioning back into student and civilian life himself, he wanted to help student vets make a smoother transition back to their studies. He then took it one step farther and worked to pitch the idea to Longwood University's President, Dr. Cormier. Dr. Cormier then assisted in introducing Greg to Mr. Tom DeWitt, who sits on the Board of Directors for The Aurora Foundation, which was created in October 2008 to help student veterans receive the support they need on campus.

Greg knew what it was going to take to get a Student Veteran Association created on campus. His initial goal is to hit close to home and then slowly broaden and expand as he reached out to more veterans. He intends to start small on campus and eventually expand the efforts to Walter Reed and the D.C. Metro hospitals where he will continue to support veterans. He wants to help other vets realize what opportunities lie ahead for them--starting with the G.I. Bill and going to college.

At Longwood, there are currently 12 people in the Longwood Student Veterans group (LSV). Because most students are unaware of the existence of the LSV on campus, they held their first Veterans Day Event in 2008 to help get the word out. This event was held in hope of establishing campus-wide support for the student veterans at Longwood University.

During this summer's Orientation, Susan Stinson, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran herself, hosted a table advertising the group, which made both students and their parents more aware of what support is now available for student veterans. Since the beginning, Greg Serwo has received a lot of support in creating the Longwood Student Veterans group. In the future, Greg hopes that the Longwood Student Veterans will continue to expand on Longwood's campus. These are the goals for the future:

• Veteran Housing: located within the university's off-campus housing community.

• Student Veteran Center: a place for all student-vets to hang out, a meeting place for the LSV, a computer lab, and the main office would be located here.

• Main Office/Point of Contact: a Main Point of Contact needs to be identified so that all student veterans are being directed to the same location time after time. This person will be located on campus at all times and their position would deal primarily with student veterans and their needs.

• A VA Representative: Student Veterans need someone from the VA on campus at least once a semester. They want a trained person coming in to answer questions and lend support, etc.

• Crisis Counseling: A much needed resource for all veterans and their family members on campus. This will put someone on campus/in town for students to turn to when necessary and eventually, the LSV students would like to have group counseling available.

• Boots to Books: Longwood University requires that all students take a Seminar Class (LSEM) as a first year student. Susan Stinson has been certified to teach a Boots to Books LSEM Course. It is going to be veteran-related but anyone can take the course. It will discuss transitioning to campus and making other students more aware of veterans. She hopes to offer the course in the Fall of 2010.

As you can see, the Longwood Student Veterans have accomplished a lot in a short amount of time and they are hoping to continue to excel in years to come. I would like to give a well-deserved pat on the back to Greg Serwo for all of his hard work with the Student Veteran Association. Be sure to read the next article to learn about how you can create an SVA on campus just like Greg Serwo did at Longwood University.

In 2008, SNVC created The Aurora Foundation to help address the needs of veterans as they take advantage of the new GI Bill and return to college. SNVC's Founder and current President/CEO is a veteran himself, and he attributes his own success to his academic and military career. Today, The Aurora Foundation is led by an experienced Board of Directors which is focused on the mission to "enable veterans to successfully graduate from college and enter the workforce."

We are focused on serving those who serve others...
Be sure to follow Aurora on Twitter @VetNetUSA.
Become a Fan of The Aurora Foundation on Facebook here http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Aurora-Foundation/116474360109
http://www.aurora4vets.org is currently under construction.

Why is New Jersey Called the Garden State?

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Why is New Jersey called the Garden State? In 1926, Alfred Heston published an historical account of New Jersey citing a moment in 1876 when Abraham Browning compared New Jersey to "an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other. He called New Jersey the Garden State, and the name has clung to it ever since." Although, New Jersey has historical roots tied to gardening, its modern ties to its nickname might be even more extensive. This is despite the famous 1954 incident where the Governor refused to sign a bill that would add this nickname to the state license plates. Although true that New Jersey is also strong in many other areas of manufacturing, mining, and construction its historical and modern ties are very extensive.

New Jersey has nearly a dozen garden clubs and several state associations with two large community gardens, Denville Community Garden and the Greater Newark Conservancy. Look around and you will find bird sanctuaries, garden museums, arboretums, and many historical garden sites. In addition, New Jersey has almost 10.000 individual farms spanning nearly 800,000 acres of farmland and among those leading the nation in many forms of agricultural production. New Jersey is a large supplier of tomatoes, corn, blueberries, cranberries, spinach, bell peppers, peaches, lettuce, apples, strawberries, potatoes, hay, and soybeans. Additionally, New Jersey is also famous for their wines and fruit wines with nearly three dozen wineries spanning the state.

New Jersey is extensively covered in parks and tress with more than 50% of the state still wooded. In fact, New Jersey strongly pushes for land conservation and protection of its natural trees, resources, and wildlife. The push for modern "greenways" by many of the local organizations is one example of the modern way the New Jersey citizens define themselves by their state nickname. The New Jersey greenway vision is a push for "interconnecting systems of parks, trails, and protected natural areas, farmland, and historical places" according to Ed McMahon, director of the American Greenways Program. With a future vision of keeping in touch with its traditional roots its clear that many modern citizens continue to identify with the state nickname.

Gardening is an extremely popular hobby in New Jersey. New Jersey is also famous for its master gardener programs at Rutgers where from 1984 to 2008 the program has accumulated over 1.2 million volunteer hours by the locals willing to learn and help out, according to a report by the university. This program has been extremely beneficial for getting people more excited and interested in gardening and landscaping in the area. The push for gardening even extends into the Northern New Jersey suburban housing where container gardening and window box gardening have become increasingly popular trends. The nickname not only defines New Jersey from a historical point of view it remains today an important symbol that represents what the average person from New Jersey relates to as well.

Matt Buquoi is the owner of Flower Window Boxes, a window box company that specializes in affordable no rot window boxes. He has seen an increasing trend in the gardening and window box industry in the New Jersey area.

11.11 Veterans day

Freedom is never free. Author Unknown Quotes The most persistent sound which reverberates through men's history is the beating of war drums. Arthur Koestler Quotes We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. Cynthia Ozick Quotes When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them. Chinese Proverb Quotes It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. Dick Cheney Quotes This nation will remain the land of the free ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbXAk3zRdD8&hl=en

World War II Facts

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There are many theories about what started World War II. The most popular belief is that Hitler wanted more land to expand Germany. Looking for a reason to start a war and invade Poland, but not wanting it to appear that he instigated it, Hitler staged a polish attack on Germany. This would justify Germany's counter-attack and invasion of Poland.

On August 31, 1939, under Hitler's command and Himmler's ingenuity, a small group of German Nazis dressed in Polish uniforms invaded a German radio station. They left behind a dead prisoner from a concentration camp also dressed in a Polish uniform, making it appear like he died in an attack on the radio station. On September 1, Germany declared war on Poland. Ignoring warnings from Great Britain and France to withdraw their troops from Poland, Germany continued their invasion.

Two days later on September 3, both Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. This series of events started World War II. Later, the war would serve as a mask for Hitler's holocaust and genocide of Nazi's truest enemy, the Jews.

The United States entered the war when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The very next day, the United States declared war on Japan and on December 11, declared war on Germany.

On June 6, 1944, nearly 150,000 soldiers invaded the beaches of Normandy. D-Day, as it came to be known, was the western Allies largest amphibious invasion in world history. Before the month of June was over, more than 850,000 American, British and Canadian troops would occupy Normandy. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the invasion on Normandy "The Great Crusade".

On April 30, 1945, Hitler, along with his long time mistress, committed suicide and approximately one week later; Germany surrendered, putting an end to World War II. The end of World War II was the beginning of an era known as the Cold War which would continue for the next fifty years.
Over 100 million military personnel participated in the war making it the most widespread war in history. Around 72 million people lost their lives including 47 million civilians and 25 million military personnel.

20 million deaths were from war related famine and disease and 4 million prisoners of war died in POW camps. This astronomical death toll would make World War II the deadliest war in history. It was not only profound with the large number of casualties. It was also known as the most costly war, costing approximately one trillion dollars.

Jay Villaverde is the owner of http://www.WorldWarCollectibles.net A site dedicated to preserving history from the great wars. The site offers original items from World War II and is a must see for historians as well as collectors.