Jinyi Bae is not surprised the government is paying for her schooling. The GI Bill is the reason she joined the military in the first place.
The California native had just started college five years ago when she realized if she subtracted the cost of tuition from her income and savings she was already in the hole. When the U.S. Air Force recruiter told her the Air Force would put her through school if she'd give them four years of active duty, plus another four years on inactive reserve, she told them they had their woman.
She soldiered through basic training and active duty, serving as an electronics mechanic for F-16s. She was stationed at Hill Air Force Base and spent five months in Iraq in 2006.
Now she's studying to be a nurse at Weber State and getting $1,471 a month to do it.
What has surprised her is that it's more money than she ever expected.
"The basic GI Bill is great," she says. "But there's a bunch of other benefits you can get I wasn't even aware of."
As an example, Jinyi says she recently discovered that there's a free tutoring program available to veterans, and when she signed up for the math tutoring it included an additional cash stipend.
She got paid to study.
"What we've found is that they give you extra money if you utilize their services," says Jinyi, including her husband and fellow veteran, Jason Kleinschmidt, in the conversation.
She and Jason met when both were working in backshop avionics at Hill. Jason also did a tour of duty in Iraq. Now he's attending school at the University of Utah on the GI Bill, and getting the same deal as his wife.
"We both go to school full time and don't work," says Jinyi. "It's such a tremendous help to be able to do this. The only way we could afford it is with the GI Bill."
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The people in charge of veterans' affairs in Utah want every veteran to hear Jinyi and Jason's story — and many more just like them. They are concerned that too many servicemen and women aren't aware of all the benefits, and money, available to them.
"In Utah, we're below the national average of veterans taking advantage of our services," says Terry Schow, executive director of the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs. "That concerns us, and we want to do something about it."
To help spread the word, Schow's office is partnering with the Provo City Veterans Council to host a Veterans Information and Benefits Fair tonight at the Provo City Center, 351 W. Center, from 4 to 8 p.m.
There will be refreshments and door prizes and even a rock band — the American Hitmen, composed of Marine vets with ties to Utah who met in Iraq.
All of it is absolutely free to veterans — an appetizer of what else is available. The benefits fair will include booths offering information about home loans, education, employment, health care and other benefits.
"The idea," says Dave Gunn, a Vietnam veteran and chairman of the Provo Veterans Council, "is to make sure every veteran knows what's available and what they're entitled to. They can get grants, they can get job training, they can save on closing costs on their home, they can get employee-related expenses paid. There are all sorts of things available, and it's a shame if they don't know about them."
And it's no handout, Gunn stresses. The GI Bill is payment for difficult service rendered.
College students Jinyi and Jason are good examples of what he's talking about.
They may be going to school now without having to work on the side, but go back two and three years and they were pulling 12-hour shifts with one day off a week at an air base 30 miles north of Baghdad nicknamed "Mortar-itaville" because of the constant mortar attacks directed at the base.
Paying their books and tuition, and a little extra, is Uncle Sam's way of saying thank you for keeping America free.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.