The Opportunity and Challenge of the Vietnam Era Veteran to American Educators.
At the close of World War II American educators joined with the federal government in an unparalleled effort to provide sixteen million returning veterans with a unique educational opportunity. The result became one of the most significant and far-reaching educational programs ever inaugurated by a society. The veterans who participated, as well as the higher educational community and the entire American society, benefited from this program. Indeed, some have called this effort one of the most innovative and significant educational programs ever undertaken. We are again faced with a similar situation and opportunity. However, the gradual process by which Vietnam era veterans are reentering civilian life is quite unlike the sudden influx of millions of veterans that took place in a matter of months in 1945-46. Educators, like the nation as a whole, have been less aware of the veterans' presence, though more than five million have already returned.