To the editor: The GI Bill didn’t just widen the wealth gap for African American war veterans. It also affected Mexican American GIs. (“How the GI Bill widened the Black-white wealth gap,” Opinion, June 23)
My mum told me the story of when she tried to buy a new home after World War II. She went to the open house and the sales office, said she was interested in buying a home and that it was being purchased via GI Bill. The salesmen told my mum that the homes were not available to people of her kind.
The next day, my dad walked in to talk to the salesman. He was a light-skinned Mexican American. During World War II, he learned German, so he walked into the office and spoke to the man with a German accent and used some German words.
The salesman quickly gave Dad the papers for the purchase. The next day, Dad and Mum walked in with the required documents.
Think of all the dark-skinned Mexican American GIs who were denied the chance to buy a home.
Bill Bermúdez, South Whittier
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To the editor: Thank you for publishing the superb op-ed article by Ebony Reed about the extent to which Black veterans were frozen out of benefiting from the GI Bill.
As a historian whose doctoral dissertation dealt with the impact of the Great Depression on San Jose, I’m very aware of the frequency with which federal legislation had discriminatory consequences for Black people.
White families like mine have been able to utilize generational wealth in ways impossible for most Black families. This story should be better known.
Glenna Matthews, Laguna Beach
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To the editor: I was drafted in November 1955 after graduating from USC with no redeemable skills other than a liberal arts degree and aspirations to be a journalist. By luck of the draw, I was inducted into the U.S. Navy and assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, where I served as an indentured grunt and caught most of the midnight-to-4-a.m. watches.
Although it was terribly inconvenient time-wise, serving in the Navy was a good maturing experience for me, as the military is not a voting society.
After my two-year enlistment ended, I was discharged. I bought a home with a Federal Housing Administration loan, and I borrowed the $1,000 down payment with a cash advance on a credit card. I wasn’t eligible for a Department of Veterans Affairs loan, although I am a veteran.
I was hired by Union Oil Co. as a credit analyst, where I matched wits with customers for two years before I took a different position with another company. I worked for 50 years in a number of challenging assignments before I finally retired in 2006.
I am white and never received any special deals. I was just willing to work hard and was smart.
Donald Vernon, Hermosa Beach
