GI Bill helps vets readjust

Jason Means, 36, sits in his new South Charleston massage therapy room. Means recently earned his licensed massage therapy certification and graduated from Mountain State School of Massage last month. The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill helped pay for his tuition, books, supplies and also provided him with a monthly stipend to make his new business a reality.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Take a guy like Jason Means to a massage therapy room decorated in feng shui style, with salt rocks and burning incense with the sounds of waves clashing in the background, and he will think it's just ridiculous.

That's why Means, a 36-year-old Army National Guard veteran, adorned his South Charleston massage room with photos he took while serving in Iraq, a mounted turkey he killed last year and small (not active) rockets. The music includes Pink Floyd and Steely Dan.

His folded "American soldier" flag sits next to a hutch filled with massage creams, lotions and oils.

Means recently earned his certification to become a licensed massage therapist thanks to the post-9/11 G.I. Bill.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the original G.I. Bill on June 22, 1944 to give "servicemen and women the opportunity of resuming their education or technical training after discharge," Roosevelt said on that day.

The first G.I. Bill helped create a strong postwar U.S. economy. In the peak year of 1947, veterans accounted for 49 percent of college admissions, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. By 1956, nearly half of the 16 million World War II veterans had participated in an education or training program because of the G.I. Bill.

In 2008, the G.I. Bill was updated. The new version gives veterans with active duty on, or after, Sept. 11, 2001, enhanced educational benefits that cover even more educational expenses, provides a living allowance, money for books and the ability to transfer unused educational benefits to spouses or children, according to the VA.

The bill now extends veterans' benefits beyond the conventional brick-and-mortar campuses to learn through on-the-job training programs and vocational schools.

In many cases, a veteran's full tuition and fees are paid.

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GI Bill helps vets readjust