SONNY’S CAST OF CHARACTERS

Principal (but not all-inclusive) persons/organizations that shaped the Montgomery GI Bill’s 1987 enactment included the following:

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Vice President George H.W. Bush
Vice Admiral Dudley Carlson, U.S. Navy
Lieutenant General Earnest Cheatham, U.S. Marine Corps
Lieutenant General Bob Elton, U.S. Army
Lieutenant General Thomas Hickey, U.S.Air Force
Secretary of the Army John Marsh
General Edward “Shy” Meyer, U.S. Army
General Max Thurman, U.S. Army
Chief Benefits Director, John Vogel, Veterans Administration
General John Wickham, U.S. Army

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Senator Bill Armstrong (R-CO)
Representative Beverly Byron (D-MD)
Senator Bill Cohen (R-ME)
Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA)
Representative Ronald Dellums (D-CA)
Representative Wayne Dowdy (D-MS)
Representative Bob Edgar (D-PA)
Representative Lane Evans (D-IL)
Senator John Glenn (D-OH)
Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt (R-AR)
Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Senator Spark Matsunaga (D-HI)
Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK)
Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA)
Representative Tim Penny (D-MN)
Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ)
Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY)
Representative Bob Stump (R-AZ)
Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
Senator John Tower (R-TX)

COMMITTEES OF JURISDICTION

House Committee on Veterans’Affairs;

and Subcommittee on Education, Training, and Employment

House Committee on Armed Services;

and Subcommittee on Military Personnel and Compensation

Senate Committee on Veterans’Affairs

Senate Committee on Armed Services;

and Subcommittee on Force Management and Personnel

Senate Committee on Budget

House Committee on Budget

House Committee on Rules

INTEREST GROUPS

Non Commissioned Officers Association of the United States (NCOA)
American Association of Community and Junior Colleges
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
American Council on Education (ACE)
Fleet Reserve Association
National Association of State Approving Agencies
National Association of Veterans’ Program Administrators
American Association of Minority Veterans Programs Administrators
National Home Studies Council
Association of the United States Army
Navy League of the United States

The Retired Officers Association
Reserve Officers Association of the United States
National Association for Uniformed Services
National Guard Association of the United States
Naval Reserve Association
Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States (EANGUS)
Air Force Association
Air Force Sergeant’s Association
Marine Corps League
National Military Wives Association
Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)
Vietnam Veterans of America
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW)
The American Legion
AMVETS
Blinded Veterans Association
American Veterans Committee

MEDIA

P.J. Budahn, Army Times
Tim Carrington, Wall Street Journal
Adell Crowe, USA Today
Richard Halloran, New York Times
Otto Kreisher, New York City Tribune
Rick Maze, Army Times
Paul Smith, Army Times
George C. Wilson, Washington Post