Korean Vets Will Get Direct Payments With New GI Bill

Senate action is being awaited on a new G.I. Bill of Rights, which passed the House without amendments on June 5. The measure, similar to the one in effect during World War II, calls for one and one-half days schooling for every day's service since June 27, 1950, with a service credit limit of 36 months.

One way in which the new program differs from the old is that all payments will go directly to veterans, rather than as allowances for books and tuition fees paid to the colleges by the government. A maximum of $110 monthly will be paid to qualified veterans without dependents. Those with dependents would get up to a maximum $150 a month.

Although the time limit of the bill is dated from the start of the Korean War, it will apply to all members of the armed services on active duty after that date, whether they served in the Korean theater or not. Senate opposition is expected to that part of the bill calling for all payments to be made directly to veterans.

August Draft Call

Meanwhile, the Army has announced that its draft call for August will be 29,000 men, a drop of 2,000 from the previous month. A total of 983,430 men have been called into the Army and Marines since the Korean fighting started. But the Marine Corps announced recently that it will once again rely on voluntary enlistments to fill its quota.

Draft calls are expected to go up considerably in the fall, when it will become necessary to replace the expected million men who will be discharged from active duty starting July 1. Many of these are men who were drafted in the early months of the Korean war.

On Thursday, the Senate gave final approval to the bill permitting the President to keep units of the National Guard, the Air National Guard, and other reserve units in active federal service up to five years.

The provision permitting retention of reserve units for five instead of two years does not extend the period of service required from individuals under the present law.