Coming Home: The Greatest Generation’s Return
““It is impossible for the Nation to compensate for the services of a fighting man. There is no pay scale that is high enough to buy the services of a single soldier during even a few minutes of the agony of combat ...” ”
Written by: John Bray
Eighty years ago, the United States faced one of its greatest peacetime tests: demobilizing and reintegrating millions of men and women returning from the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation.
This remarkable effort meant transporting throngs of battle-weary soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines across oceans and helping them find a new footing in civilian life economically, socially and psychologically.
This “coming home” period featured continuity and a return to normalcy; the image of veterans rejoining or starting a family, attending college, getting a job and buying a home – a ticket to the American Dream.
Policies such as the GI Bill of Rights, enacted in 1944, would fuel an historic economic expansion and “baby boom” that transformed American life for generations. But their uneven implementation—particularly systemic barriers that excluded many Black veterans—revealed stark inequities in this postwar promise.
These circumstances perhaps played into President Truman’s decision to fully integrate the armed services in 1947. Thanks to the work of many Black veteran activists, the rights of veterans were among those addressed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Two Fronts: Between Victory and Duty
With the surrender of Nazi Germany, the U.S. military pivoted into an occupation role.
The overlap between victory in Europe in May 1945 and the continuing war in the Pacific created unprecedented logistical challenges while raising questions of fairness. About 3 million American personnel stationed in Europe were preparing for demobilization or redeployment, while others were still fighting across the Pacific (roughly 1 million from the first group were being reassigned to reinforce the second). Limited shipping capacity and the conflicting imperatives of demobilizing on one front while sustaining another compounded the complexity of this extraordinary transition.
Preparing for Victory: “The Points System”
In an example of his visionary leadership, General Marshall, who had witnessed first-hand the Army’s post-World War I demobilization failures as an aide to General John J. Pershing, had foreseen the enormity, if not the specifics, of the demobilization challenge. Marshall was determined to avoid a repeat of this dark chapter in U.S. history, which was marked by high unemployment, insufficient government support and societal unrest.
Back in July 1943, the Army Chief of Staff ordered the Special Planning Division to establish a “points system” to determine who would stay in Germany, who would be deployed to the Pacific and who would be sent back home.
““The opinion was that those who have served longest, fought the hardest, and who have children should be permitted to leave the Army first. As a result the point system of returning men for discharge wherever they are on duty was established.” ”
The points system, which has been lauded by some historians as “an eminently fair means of discharging veteran troops,” was also plagued by bureaucratic challenges and met with confusion and derision by many GIs. For example, the National World War II Museum notes that “…soldiers who had been overseas for more than two years resented the fact that newly arrived fathers got so many points for newborn children.”
In her memoir, Katherine Marshall recounted how her husband personally confronted the confusion and rumors swirling around the new points system. Soon after its implementation, while driving in plain clothes, he picked up a hitchhiking soldier who—unaware he was speaking to General Marshall himself—vented that the policy was “all hooey” and that despite his three years’ service in combat, he believed (incorrectly) that only men with wives and children qualified for discharge.
Marshall responded that the soldier was “bound to have enough points” due to his years of service and battle engagements. “You are talking stuff you read … war department hooey,” the hitchhiker responded dismissively. He was stunned by the driver’s response: “Well, I’ll tell you. I am General Marshall and you will be out of the Army tomorrow. What is your name and outfit?”
Despite its drawbacks, the points system provided a practical path to the demobilization of millions of troops and played an important role in preventing a repeat of the post–World War I failures.
The GI Bill and The American Dream
Marshall is remembered as the architect of the European Recovery Program—the Marshall Plan—which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize for helping rebuild a devastated Europe. Yet that achievement was only possible because the United States first succeeded in stabilizing and expanding its own postwar economy, providing the strength and resources needed to underwrite Europe’s recovery.
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill, was a centerpiece of this effort. The GI Bill provided veterans with benefits such as low-cost mortgages, loans to start businesses and tuition for higher education. The initiative contributed to a postwar era of growth and opportunity that reshaped the nation and the trajectory of American and western democracies in the 20th century.
By providing veterans with pathways to school, training and homeownership, the GI Bill helped prevent the mass unemployment and social unrest policymakers feared as millions of servicemembers successfully re-entered civilian life, started families and gave birth to the “baby boom” generation.
Between 1944 and 1956, roughly 7.8 million veterans would take advantage of these benefits. The program transformed American higher education—more than doubling college enrollments—and significantly expanded homeownership and middle-class growth
But the benefits of the GI Bill were far from equitable — especially for the more than 1 million Black Americans who served in World War II. Despite the enormous sacrifices they had made for their country, Black veterans—including the renowned Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st Tank Battalion—returned home to segregated schools, discriminatory banks and restrictive red line real estate practices that unjustly limited their access to GI Bill benefits.
These circumstances perhaps played into President Truman’s decision to fully integrate the armed services in 1947. Thanks to the work of many Black veteran activists, the rights of veterans were among those addressed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Eighty years later, the story of America’s returning World War II veterans remains a testament to vision and resilience. Thoughtful and largely effective policies like the points system and the GI Bill helped millions transition from combat to civilian life, sparking historic economic growth, expanding opportunity and shaping the postwar American Dream for many.
This remarkable chapter in our nation’s history helps us appreciate the courage of those who served, the foresight of leaders like George C. Marshall and the continued responsibility of current and future leaders to support policies that ensure all veterans are fully honored for service to their nation.