As so much attention was focused on rebuilding the shattered cities of World War 2, the issue of what about the returning G.I. also loomed high on the agenda. After four years of war, readjusting to the notion of peace would take time. Aside from the switching gears for the country from war footing to peace, getting back to normal hours, pre-war availabilities of goods that were unavailable – the issue of jobs, places to live and in many cases, families to get started were now at the forefront of America’s concerns.
Housing was critical – a shortage of places to live throughout the country were a major concern. Jobs were a scarcity while most industry was re-tooling for peacetime manufacturing. And those who were working in defense plants were now out of work, compounding the issue.
Everything from cars to education was affected by the return to peace. But steps were being taken to address those pressing needs of the returning Vet with everything to GI loans for housing to GI bills for eduction. With a large portion of GI’s who enlisted right after High School, they were now planning on entering college for the first time – that, along with the importance of getting an education to those whose college education was interrupted – most colleges and Universities were swamped.
It was a potential problem on a grand scale, but it didn’t come as a surprise – and because of that, steps were being taken to ease the former draftees and enlistees anxieties and slowly get the country back on its pre-war feet.
In this series, “Word From The Country” – a weekly broadcast from CBS Radio, reporters from around America gave accounts of how life and issues for the returning G.I. were being addressed. What sort of adjustments were being made to deal with the housing and job situation; the two most important issues facing the country in general – what steps were being taken on a State and local level, as well as Federal level to ease the anxieties of the returning Vet and to make the transition to peace a successful one. Recovery was slow but it was happening. It was a joint effort – as much as gearing up for war involved the entire country – so was gearing up for peace.
Here is the first program from the series Word From The Country, as it was broadcast on April 24, 1946 over CBS Radio.