Readers Remember

In November 1963, I was working for a small daily newspaper. The rest of our newsroom was out to lunch that Friday, so I’m tending the “state wire.” As they say, almost everybody remembers where they were that day when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

A very early bulletin identified the suspect as “Lee Osborn.” I’ve known for years I should have held on to that little piece of AP copy.

MIKE PECK

Burbank

To thousands of World War II veterans, the event that changed their lives is so rarely mentioned that it seems almost like a non-event. The G.I. Bill was signed into law without great fanfare. It granted one month of education for each month of service.

In November 1945, I returned to a dead-end foundry job. In September 1946, I became a 29-year-old freshman at Indiana University--the first of my family to go beyond high school. My 58-month education allotment got me to within a year of a doctoral degree in geography at the University of Michigan. A 30-year university teaching career began in 1951.

But, like a pebble dropped into a pond, the ripples are still spreading. I married an Indiana coed and our children all have academic degrees.

Once in a while the government gets something right. Thanks, Harry.

ARTHUR EARICK

Yorba Linda

In 200 words or less, send us your memories of the 20th century. Write to Century, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail century@latimes.com. Letters may be edited for space.