I would like to know why the government is interested in giving more benefits to the military and still none to the Peace Corps volunteers. A Peace Corps volunteers takes the same oath as all military personnel. Also, it is my opinion that both jobs are similar.
Where Peace Corps volunteers live, they live alone. They don’t have luxurious beds to sleep in; they don’t have access to cell phones, Internet, gyms, or good old fashioned American food. The Peace Corps thrives in places that the military would never send their personnel alone. Peace Corps volunteers are on the front lines promoting capitalism, democracy, and liberty.
Both job are equally important to the United States, yet one gets all the attention, and funding. The Peace Corps is essentially the equivalent to any Special Forces-Civil Affairs unit, minus the M-16 and camouflage. The conduct similar jobs, yet receive no recognition for their own duty or service. Peace Corps volunteers deserve the same benefits as the military, or something comparable.
Listed below are the benefits for both the Peace Corps and the military. Can you tell the difference?
Peace Corp Benefits: Peace Corps Volunteer Service Credit for Retirement, access to fellows program.
Military Benefits: GI Bill, signing bonuses, life insurance, memorials and burials, military education, military pay, space ‘A’ travel, survivor benefits, TRICARE-Military Health Care, VA home loans, veteran benefits, veteran benefits by states, veterans health care.
In conclusion, it is vitally important to the nation and the world to offer more benefits to Peace Corps volunteers. Without their courage and determination to change the world on the grass roots level, the world would be a much darker, and much less secure, environment.
Casey B. Welch
Peace Corps Volunteer, Nicaragua 01-03
Phoenix, Arizona
(Taken from the Summer edition of Worldview, the magazine of the National Peace Corps Association.)
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