And World War II was the first war involving American troops in which those troops, when they came home, were given ANY sort of economic or educational assistance in acknowledgment of their service. In the Great War. the Spanish-American War, the Civil War and the unprovoked U.S. invasion of Mexico that our history books called "The Mexican War', veterans came home to...nothing. They were marched around in parades on the Fourth of July, but otherwise left to rot. if they were grievously wounded, they were left on the streets to beg, as were soldiers in other countries-if they had lost limbs, they were placed in large baskets to conceal their war-caused disfigurements from passersby, which is where the term "basket case" came from.

We should not only have veterans' benefits, but benefits for those who were long-time activists in movements for social change- the labor movement, the Black/Latino/Indigenous freedom movements, the anti movement(s) the LGBTQ rights movement, and today Antifa.

Those people also fought and continue to fight for this country, and their sacrifices- which sometimes include physical/psychological wounds, blacklisting/poverty, social stigmatization in their communities- should be acknowledged as well.