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A BETTER GO FOR G I JOE
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he IS ushered to the counseling sect.ion by a guide, also a trained counselor. Once in the section, he is assigned a counselor who, with the separatee's miHtary records in hand, begins the interview.
Techniques differ, but the main job is, first, to answer any questions the man may have about any problems, military or domestic. When it is impossible, or inadvisable, to supply such information, referral is made to the suitable agency or source of information. This is probably one of the chief benefits to the soldier. He is told exactly whom to see and where to go. He generally receives the information in written form with the name and address of the person and agency.
Rights and privileges under the GI Bill and other legislation are explained in terms closely associated with the individual— in terms he can understand. Effort is made to stress the various phases of educational training, vocational training, unemployment compensation, loan privileges. Civil Service credits, disability compensations, rights to campaign ribbons and decorations, and any other subjects which will be of direct help to the soldier about to re-become a civilian.
Sometimes the situations are pathetically funny. One soldier, a separatee, had married a girl overseas, in one of our allied countries. Now
in the counseling section it is standard practice to illustrate how a foreign wif^ may be brought to the States. But this GI wanted to go back to the home of his spouse! His chief hope was in finding a U. S. Government job in her homeland — or stripping down to the waist and going for a long swim!
Then there was the soldier just back from a long tour of duty overseas. The moment he had seated himself in the booth, he sighed and announced to the startled counselor that, "I guess I'm just gonna have to go home and kill my wife!" And he wasn't kidding! Questioning revealed he had heard stories of her "carryin' on" with another man. Needless to say, the Army can not solve a predicament such as this. But the soldier was urged to consult his pastor before taking any action — and to make whatever action he took strictly legal!
Frequently men must suffer some disillusionment when they discover that their benefits do not inc^lude financial support for the rest of their lives. It is not rare for a man with four or five offspring to want to stay in a while longer.
Although the counseling program is designed solely for the benefit of the outgoing GI, it now and then comes up against some reluctance on the part of the GI to cooperate full> with the program. Aftel a couple