The Effect of American World War II Veteran Challenges on Television Innovator Rod Serling
By Ryan Bridley
Introduction
At ten years old, I was chubby, wore blue-framed glasses and high-top sneakers, and modeled a puffy combover haircut. To convince myself I was tougher than I appeared, I read R.L. Stine’s “scary” children’s book series, Goosebumps, and with the lights on, watched Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? However, my fourth-grade bravado crumbled one day as a twenty-second black-and-white commercial appeared on television. In the commercial, a terse voice stated, “This weekend, watch The Twilight Zone marathon.” The commercial was accompanied by the show’s eerie, iconic theme music and a sequence of two-to-three second clips: a passenger looking out an airplane window to see a monster’s face pressed against it from the other side, another man smiling as he pulled off his soda jerk hat to reveal a third eye on his forehead, and the most scary, a doll with a motionless face, sweetly saying, “My name is Talky Tina…and you better be nice to me.” Petrified, I told myself, “I will never watch this show.”
Fifteen years later, while watching television, I saw a Twilight Zone rerun beginning to air. I decided to watch and after finishing the episode, I became a fan. Since then, I have watched many of the show’s episodes and read several books and articles about the show’s creator, executive producer, lead writer, and narrator, Rodman “Rod” Serling. One of those articles was written in 2022 by Rolling Stone magazine, which ranked history’s 100 greatest television shows. The Twilight Zone was ranked #12, placing it ahead of iconic shows such as Friends, The Office, Sesame Street, All in the Family, Saturday Night Live, Game of Thrones, and I Love Lucy.[1] The show ranked #1 was The Sopranos, yet The Sopranos’ head writer, David Chase, stated The Twilight Zone left a “mammoth impression” on him as a writer, thus denoting Rod Serling’s influence on television.[2]
I also learned Serling was a World War II (WWII) combat veteran, who drew writing inspiration from reintegrating into civilian society following his service, prompting me to learn more about post-WWII American culture. In honor of the end of 2024 marking the 100th anniversary of Serling’s birth, the following discusses American WWII veterans’ societal reintegration challenges, their impact on Serling’s early television writing career, especially with his first major success, Patterns, and what can be learned from their connection.[3]
Social Unrest with Veterans
With WWII ending in 1945, a major post-war challenge affecting the U.S. was a societal divide between many established citizens and returning veterans. Even before the war ended, there was a negative attitude held by many veterans towards civilian society. A 1944 War Department (now known as the Department of Defense) survey of 4,200 veterans conveyed almost half felt at least minor resentment against civilians.[4] This was due to many veterans feeling civilians were living better lifestyles during the war than what veterans were being told, and that civilians focused too much on their income.[5] A 1945 War Department survey of 6,000 American Servicemen in Europe found that business groups were the most often named of professional, ethnic, or political groups of using the war to advance “selfish interests.”[6] In early 1946, 1.5 million returned veterans were unable to find affordable homes, instead living in the residence of a family member or friend, or in extreme circumstances, living in barns or automobiles. Meanwhile, the American Legion’s National Commander accused the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) of missing medical records and being slow to register claims.[7] Further, numerous articles from magazines such as Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, and Life, addressed concerns about how to interact with returning veterans, as many feared veterans would be permanently prone to violence.[8]
While many veterans held grudges, there were also cases of veterans creating dissent, especially in 1946, just a year after the war ended. A Chicago judge in a court for males 17-21, noted before the war, defendants were usually tried for petty misdemeanors, but following the war there was a sudden increase in rape, robberies, and burglaries from veterans, including those with honorable discharges.[9] The same year, a Detroit police summary said the arrests of veterans for disorderly conduct, drunkenness, vehicle theft, and assault “soared above” the arrests from the rest of the community for the same crimes.[10] In Jefferson City, Missouri, 350 veterans led a motorcade, calling for a $400 bonus. The governor who met with them, angrily stated, “We don’t have a government of threats or intimidation or of trying to stampede the governor.”[11] In Albany, New York, 70 veterans desiring funding for housing, marched into the state capitol, overtook the assembly chamber, and held their own parody voting session to demonstrate their frustration.[12] In a twelve-month period starting in November, 1945, the U.S. also experienced the highest number of protests in its history. In this time, five million Americans, many of whom were veterans, went on strike, creating 4,600 work stoppages for industries tied to automobile manufacturing, truck driving, coal mining, textile manufacturing, electric work, meatpacking, steel work, and dock work.[13]
One intense scenario involving veterans took place in Athens, Tennessee in 1946 during the election for several local offices, including sheriff. On election day, the incumbent sheriff and his cohorts, known for corruption, decided to count the votes in a jailhouse, while not allowing witnesses from opposing parties to be present. On the same day, those cohorts intimidated voters, apprehended several poll watchers from the veterans’ party, shot and wounded a local man, and beat up and arrested two veterans.[14] Incensed, several hundred veterans marched into the local National Guard armory, seized firearms and ammunition, surrounded the jailhouse, and demanded the incumbents count the votes in public. The incumbents and their cohorts refused and fired shots. In return, the veterans opened fire and used dynamite to blow open the jailhouse door.[15] The incumbents fled, and their cohorts surrendered, but the veterans still flipped and burned nearby police cars. The votes were counted, and it was determined the veterans’ party candidates received the most votes.[16] While the local veteran candidates won the election, the story received national coverage, much of which was negative towards the veterans who partook in the incident.[17]Following, and very likely to the resentment of many civilians, veterans in Alabama, Arkansas, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma issued warnings of “another Athens” if they too faced political corruption.[18] These were extreme scenarios but they were so severe, many civilians took notice.
G.I. Bill Ramifications
President Franklin Roosevelt signing the 1944 G.I. Bill[19]
Despite affordable housing being initially sparce for returning service members, 2.4 million veterans would be granted housing aid by 1952, thanks to the G.I. Bill granting up to a 50% loan guarantee for the purchase of a business, home, or farm.[21] The bill also offered $20 a week for up to 52 weeks for unemployed WWII veterans, within the first two years of their discharge.[22] This meant a veteran could earn as much as $1,040 in unemployment support. The government ended up paying under 20% of what it allocated for unemployment support, but this offer probably frustrated many World War I (WWI) veterans, who received only $60 for their discharge.[23] When adjusting to 2025 inflation, $60 in 1918 equates to $1,250, while $1,040 in 1945 equates to $18,100, meaning WWII veterans could receive a discharge as much as 14 times what was received by WWI veterans.[24]
WWI veterans would later be granted a bonus certificate for their service in 1924, which awarded up to $500 for servicemembers who served stateside, and up to $625 for those who served overseas. However, WWI veterans were not allowed to cash their certificate until 1944, likely an additional insult for many, especially when seeing the more immediate and much larger financial support offered to the returning 16.4 million WWII veterans.[25] For comparison, 16.4 million is equivalent to the current population sum of the U.S.’ four largest cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.[26] With the unemployment support offered to returning veterans, many civilians also worried WWII veterans would have less incentive to find work, which could lead to widespread social conflict and unemployment, thus creating a new depression.[27] This was evidenced by the Saturday Evening Post article, “Are We Making a Bum Out of G.I. Joe?”[28]
While there were criticisms issued against the VA following WWII, the medical support offered to WWII veterans was still more extensive than what was previously offered.[29] For disabled WWI veterans, the government offered residential, lifelong medical care, often in rural areas, with the justification that land was cheaper, but also to limit veterans’ access to gambling and alcohol.[30] However, the 1944 G.I. Bill dedicated $500 million to building more hospitals and medical facilities, many in more urban locations, and there was an expansion in the use of metal plates to repair fractures and antibiotics, to include penicillin.[31] Together, these medical advancements helped half a million WWII veterans survive the war and receive treatment, rather than dying from battlefield wounds or sickness.[32]
Perhaps the greatest ramification of the G.I. Bill was its impact on education. Depending on their length of service, WWII veterans could earn $500 tuition for up to four years, along with a monthly living allowance. For reference, 1947 Harvard University tuition cost $455.[33] As a result of this tuition support, in 1946, veterans composed over half of student populations.[34] Through 1951, eight million veterans used the bill to advance their education, including 2.3 million veterans who attended a college or university.[35] With this sudden swelling of students, many campuses converted unused buildings, to include warehouses and factories, into housing.[36] Living space was so tight at the University of Oregon, some single dormitory rooms received up to six students and many large linen closets were altered as living quarters.[37] Trailer communities with communal showers began appearing next to many campuses.[38] Further, a considerable number of undergraduate veterans were marrying, with some having children, something largely unheard of by college and university students before the war.[39]
In turn, complaints were issued against the increased number of veteran students. The University of Chicago’s president said veterans cared more about job training than learning, and Harvard University’s president cautioned, “We may find the least capable among the war generation…flooding the facilities for advanced education in the United States.”[40] There were also examples of veteran students creating disruption. At Rutgers University, an angry veteran threw a professor down a flight of stairs, and another veteran threatened a professor in front of his class because he felt the professor was preparing to insult him.[41] While most veteran students did not behave in this manner, there were probably instances of similar, drastic behavior across the country. These altercations would have likely left at least somewhat negative impressions on school officials and established civilians, despite veteran students earning slightly higher grades than their civilian peers in 1946.[42]
Together, the challenges brought by the return of 16.4 million WWII veterans, most of whom wanted to start new lives as civilians, and the stunning support offered by the G.I. Bill caused somewhat of a social clash within American society.
The War’s Effect on Rod Serling
American television writer, producer, and narrator, Rod Serling[43]
As a 19-year-old paratrooper, Serling deployed to the Philippines in support of the Battle of Leyte. There, he witnessed the deaths of fellow Soldiers, killed an enemy combatant, received shrapnel wounds to his knee and wrist, and was nearly killed by an enemy combatant, but saved at the last second by a fellow Soldier, who shot the combatant before he could fire his weapon.[47] When recounting his combat experience, Rod stated, “I have never been so Goddamn scared in my life.” Following the battle and before redeploying to the U.S., Rod received news that his father, Samuel, died from a heart attack. Rod, who possessed a deep love for his father, submitted an emergency leave request to attend the funeral, but his request was denied, potentially creating more sadness and anger on top of his combat wounds and trauma.[48]
After redeploying to the U.S., Rod entered a rehabilitation hospital outside Chicago, while beginning a college-work study job.[49] Despite possessing a social personality before the war, after the war, Rod suffered from post-traumatic stress and became more introverted, saying, “I was pathological about my experiences, ashamed of and obsessed by my barely perceptible limp, bound and determined to unequivocally reject any and all former friends.”[50] He gradually became more out-going, and through the G.I. Bill, he received disability compensation and was able to afford tuition at Ohio’s Antioch College, the alma mater of his older brother, Robert.[51] Rod first majored in Physical Education but switched to Language and Literature, because he found writing about his experiences, including those from the war, to be therapeutic.[52] Like many veterans, Rod married while attending school, and following, he and his wife, Carol, lived in a trailer community created by their college.[53]
Following graduation, Rod was accepted as a writer for the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation’s WLW radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. WLW was an established station, but due to not crediting him for his scripts nor having interest in the somber stories he wanted to write, Rod called the job, “a particularly dreamless occupation.”[54] To compensate, he spent years writing dramatic scripts at night, after returning home from work.[55] This difference in opinion between employee and employer likely served as a microcosm to the high number of veterans figuring out how to proceed with their careers, especially under the scrutiny of established employers. In 1951, Rod found another medium in Cincinnati, WKRC-TV, to whom he sold over 25 scripts in ten months.[56] His move from radio to television was well-timed, as the number of U.S. households with television sets soared from 8,000 in 1946 to 17 million in 1952.[57]
In 1954, Rod and his family moved to Connecticut to be closer to New York City’s television industry.[58] In the same year, Serling’s television movie drama, A Long Time til Dawn, starring James Dean, aired about a violent teenager released from prison, but longing for his innocent childhood.[59] It was one of the first television shows to depict a child having conflicting feelings. It also likely reflected Rod’s fear of becoming a “monster” after the violence he witnessed and inflicted during the war, as well as learning about the hostilities inflicted by some returning veterans on civilian society.[60] As he developed his writing, Serling authored more television dramas that dealt with war and individuals struggling to live as civilians. Regarding where he drew inspiration, Rod stated, “It was not unique, nor was it not to be expected that of this [returning veteran] class of [19]46, we had very special problems we were going to write about.”[61] Rod continued writing and after 71 scripts, he created a script which indirectly spoke to a challenge felt by civilians and returning veterans, all while earning critical and public acclaim.
When Patterns aired in 1955, it established Serling as a premium television writer. [62] According to a New York Times review, “The enthusiasm [for the movie] is justified. In writing, acting, and direction, Patterns will stand as one of the high points in the tv medium’s evolution.”[63] The movie was such a mainstream hit, it re-aired weeks later, despite being a live production, and is one of the U.S.’ first television reruns.[64] The fictional story focuses on Fred Staples, a talented, up-and-coming businessman, moving from Cincinnati to New York City, to serve in a senior leadership position for a larger company. The New York City company is led by the older, severe Walter Ramsey, who expects perfection from his subordinates. Fred performs well and while he does not care for Ramsey, he holds a begrudging respect for his business acumen and is later informed Ramsey will select him to be his top deputy. Not wanting to work closer with Ramsey and taking issue with his treatment of employees, Fred confronts Ramsey and tells him he intends to quit. Ramsey counters by acknowledging that he is hard on his subordinates, but he does so because it is required for running a large, successful business. Ramsey then tells Fred he will double his salary if he stays and will groom him to potentially lead the company but will continue demanding perfection. Fred accepts Ramsey’s offer, but says he wants the chance to break Ramsey’s jaw if he takes issue with his conduct. Without flinching, Ramsey agrees and the movie ends.
Rod stated Patterns is about “little human beings in a big world – lost in it, intimidated by it, and whose biggest job is to survive it.”[65] It also deals with a younger generation trying to establish itself, while taking issue with more established figures of previous generations.[66] Rod and other veterans undertook these challenges as they entered the workforce and strained to find not only suitable professions, but ones in which they could progress, probably to the frustration of many. In the 1950s, dramas such as The Lone Ranger, Dragnet, and Gunsmoke, focused on moral characters defeating evil adversaries. Non-action shows like Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy, and The Adventures of Ozzy and Harriet, provided humor and resolution to trivial problems faced by middle-upper class families, not the impoverished nor those facing social strife.[67] Patterns is different. Its characters are neither wholly good nor bad, but rather possess various agendas to explain their actions, and its ending is surprising with the protagonist and antagonist agreeing to work together. The protagonist acts in a way that can be construed as “selling out” or being a realist in understanding that collaborating with an abrasive boss may ensure professional success.
These were issues faced by Rod and countless veterans as they tried progressing in the civilian work force. It also demonstrates Serling’s ability to understand different opinions of an issue without taking sides. The show resonated with viewers and afforded Serling the opportunity to write many movies and television shows, including The Twilight Zone, which aired four years later. Yet with this success, Rod still experienced frequent issues with his wounded knee and had recurring flashbacks and nightmares, providing reminders of the war and his effort to reintegrate back into civilian society.[68]
Conclusion
The return of over 16 million WWII veterans in the mid-1940s left a major impact on the American public. The effect was felt through numerous instances of domestic unrest and through societal changes, spurred by actions such as the G.I. Bill. In turn, many veterans, like Serling, used the G.I. Bill to receive medical care and attain a college degree. However, Serling chose a profession in which he could author stories about social issues to include post-war challenges. This was demonstrated in Patterns, and through its success, it appears the story’s themes resonated with much of the American population. Further, Serling’s experience and post-WWII American society reveal when a major war ends, the impact can be felt by the members of the general population, who must contend not only with the devastation, but how to proceed with each other.
* In memory of Sean Patrick Flachs, friend and veteran, beloved by many.
[1] Alan Sepinwall, “The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.” Rolling Stone Magazine, September 26, 2022, available at <https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/best-tv-shows-of-all-time-1234598313/>.
[2] David Chase, “’The Sopranos; Creator David Chase on ‘The Twilight Zone’: It Made a Mammoth Impression,’” Variety, December 20, 2023, available at <https://variety.com/2023/tv/columns/david-chase-the-twilight-zone-favorite-tv-show-1235833208/>.
[3] “Combat in Twilight: Rod Serling’s World War II,” The National WWII Museum, September 15, 2020, available at <https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/rod-serling-twilight>.
[4] Samuel A. Stouffer et al., The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath – Volume 2 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949), 634, 649, available at <https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/1949-stouffer-theamericansoldier-v2-combatanditsaftermath.pdf>.
[5] Samuel A. Stouffer et al., The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath – Volume 2 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949), 634, 649, available at <https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/1949-stouffer-theamericansoldier-v2-combatanditsaftermath.pdf>.
[6] Samuel A. Stouffer et al., The American Soldier: Combat and Its Aftermath – Volume 2 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1949), 585, 651, available at <https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/1949-stouffer-theamericansoldier-v2-combatanditsaftermath.pdf>.
[7] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 7, 167; “Jobs for All Who Want to Work Declared Essential,” The National Legionnaire, March 1946, 2, available at <https://archive.legion.org/_flysystem/fedora/2022-06/aa002341.pdf>; “Old Soldiers’ Soldier,” Time Magazine, April 1, 1946, available at <https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,792674-5,00.html>.
[8] Maxine Davis, “Now That He’s Home,” Good Housekeeping, January, 1945, 36, 69, 70, available at <https://reader.library.cornell.edu/docviewer/digital?id=hearth6417403_1374_001#page/38/mode/1up>; John Hersey, “Joe is Home Now,” Life, July 3, 1944, 68, 70 – 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, available at <https://books.google.com/books?id=Ok8EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>; Ralph Arnold, “How to Treat Them [Veterans],” Reader’s Digest, February, 1944, 24.
[9] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 131.
[10] A Detroit police summary: “Veterans: Better Than Most,” Newsweek, December 2, 1946, 35, available at <https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1946-12-02_28_23/page/34/mode/2up?view=theater>; Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 132.
[11] “Veterans: To the Rear, March!” Time, October 7, 1946, available at <https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,778792,00.html>.
[12] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 214; “The March on Albany,” The New York Times, October 21, 1946, available at <https://www.nytimes.com/1946/10/21/archives/veterans-end-albany-siege-after-dewey-rejects-plea-in-guarded.html>; “Vets End Seizure of State Capitol After Home Pleas,” The Southwest Times, volume 41, no. 205, October 21, 1946, 1, available at <https://virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=TSWT19461021.1.1&e=——-en-20–1–txt-txIN——–>.
[13] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 207, 208; Eric Goldman, The Crucial Decade – and After: America, 1945 – 1960 (New York, NY: Vintage Publishing Company, 1966) 19-20; Joseph C. Goulden, The Best Years, 1945 – 1950 (New York, NY: Atheneum Publishing Company, 1976) 115-123; “Violence Breaks Out as Nation’s Strikes Spread,” Life, January 28, 1946, 34, 35, available at <https://books.google.com/books?id=mUgEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=true>; “The Great Steel Strike Begins,” Life, February 4, 1946, 17 – 22, available at <https://books.google.com/books?id=hUgEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>.
[14] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 213; “Veterans: Tennessee Siege,” Newsweek, August 12, 1946, 30, 31, available at <https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1946-08-12_28_7/page/30/mode/2up?view=theater>; Lones Seiber, “The Battle of Athens,” American Heritage, volume 36, issue 2, February/March 1985, available at <https://www.americanheritage.com/battle-athens>.
[15] Blake Stillwell, “The Time World War II Veterans Overthrew a Corrupt Local Government in Tennessee,” Military.com, November 18, 2020, available at <https://www.military.com/history/time-world-war-ii-veterans-overthrew-corrupt-local-government-tennessee.html>; Jennifer E. Brooks, “The Battle of Athens,” Tennessee Historical Society, March 1, 2018, available at <https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/battle-of-athens/>.
[16] Jennifer E. Brooks, “The Battle of Athens,” Tennessee Historical Society, March 1, 2018, available at <https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/battle-of-athens/>; “Veterans: Tennessee Siege,” Newsweek, August 12, 1946, 30, 31, available at <https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1946-08-12_28_7/page/30/mode/2up?view=theater>.
[17] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 213; Gallup Poll: Public Opinion, 1935 – 1971, volume 1, 1935 – 1948 (New York, NY: Random House, 1972), 595 – 597;“Veterans: Tennessee Siege,” Newsweek, August 12, 1946, 31, available at <https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1946-08-12_28_7/page/30/mode/2up?view=theater>.
[18] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 214; “Arkansas Vets Offer GI Slates to Defeat Political Machines,” Stars and Stripes, August 11, 1946; Jennifer E. Brooks, Defining the Peace: World War II Veterans, Race, and the Remaking of Southern Political Tradition (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 37 – 74.
[19] “President Franklin D. Roosevelt Signs the G.I. Bill,” United States Senate, June 22, 1944, available at <https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/image/GIBill_signed.htm>
[20] “Born of Controversy: The GI Bill of Rights,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed December 10, 2023, available at <https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/gi-bill.pdf>; “History of the 1944 GI Bill: Interview with Veteran Benefits Administration Historians Jeffrey Seiken and Katie Delacenseri,” video, 15:53 – 16:54, C-Span, August 17, 2021, available at <https://www.c-span.org/video/?514084-2/history-1944-gi-bill>;
[21] “Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (1944),” The National Archives, May 3, 2022, available at <https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/servicemens-readjustment-act#:~:text=Roosevelt%20on%20June%2022%2C%201944,WWII%20and%20later%20military%20conflicts.>; “History of the 1944 GI Bill: Interview with Veteran Benefits Administration Historians Jeffrey Seiken and Katie Delacenseri,” video, 16:36 – 16:54, C-Span, August 17, 2021, available at <https://www.c-span.org/video/?514084-2/history-1944-gi-bill>; “Born of Controversy: The GI Bill of Rights,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, accessed December 10, 2023, available at <https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/gi-bill.pdf>; Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 7.
[22] “The G.I. Bill of Rights: An Analysis of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944,” Social Security Administration, July, 1944, 4, available at <https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v7n7/v7n7p3.pdf>.
[23] “Research Starters: The GI Bill.” The National World War II Museum, accessed November 26, 2023, available at <https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-gi-bill>; Adam Stump, “World War I Created Millions of Conscripted Veterans, Improved Benefits,” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, October 6, 2021, available at <https://news.va.gov/73270/world-war-created-millions-conscripted-veterans-improved-benefits/>.
[24] “Inflation Calculator,” US Inflation Calculator, accessed June 06, 2024, available at <https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/>.
[25] Adjusted Compensation Act: Hearings Before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate (Washington, DC, Sixty-Eighth Congress, First Session, March 25 – 29, 1924) 10, 13,17, available at <https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/68HrgAdjusted.pdf>.
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[28] “The Creation Story: Correspondence Schools and the GI Bill of Rights,” New America, accessed December 9, 2023, available at <https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/cautionary-tale-correspondence-schools/the-creation-story-correspondence-schools-and-the-gi-bill-of-rights/>.
[29] “Old Soldiers’ Soldier,” Time Magazine, April 1, 1946, available at <https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,792674-5,00.html>.
[30] “History of the 1944 GI Bill: Interview with Historians Katie Delacenserie and Jeffery Seiken,” video, 10:20 – 11:32, C-Span, August 17, 2021, available at <https://www.c-span.org/video/?514084-1/history-1944-gi-bill>.
[31] Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (Washington, DC, 78th Congress of the United States of America, Second Session, June 22, 1944), 1, available at https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/servicemens-readjustment-act>; Raymond E. Tobey, “Advances in Medicine During Wars,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, February 23, 2018, available at <https://www.fpri.org/article/2018/02/advances-in-medicine-during-wars/>.
[32] “History of the 1944 GI Bill: Interview with Historians Katie Delacenserie and Jeffery Seiken,” video, 11:42 – 13:18, C-Span, August 17, 2021, available at <https://www.c-span.org/video/?514084-1/history-1944-gi-bill>.
[33] Melanie Hanson, “Average Cost of College by Year,” Education Data Initiative, January 9, 2022, available at <https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-college-by-year#1940>.
[34] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 128; Gary A. Berg, Lessons from the Edge: For-Profit and Nontraditional Higher Education in America (Westport, CT: American Council on Education/Praeger Series on Higher Education, 2005), 1 – 2.
[35] “Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (1944),” The National Archives, May 3, 2022, available at <https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/servicemens-readjustment-act#:~:text=Roosevelt%20on%20June%2022%2C%201944,WWII%20and%20later%20military%20conflicts.>.
[36] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 128; William F. McDermott, “Campus Caravans,” American Legion Magazine, September, 1947, 30 – 33, 45 – 47, available at <americanlegionma433amer.pdf>; “Veterans at College,” Life Magazine, January 7, 1946, 37, available at <https://books.google.com/books?id=BEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false>.
[37] “Pop Goes to College,” Newsweek, November 26, 1945, 106, available at <https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1945-11-26_26_22/page/106/mode/2up?q=pop&view=theater>.
[38] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 128; “Veterans at College,” Life Magazine, January 7, 1946, 37, available at <https://books.google.com/books?id=BEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false>; William F. McDermott, “Campus Caravans,” American Legion Magazine, September, 1947, 30 – 33, available at <americanlegionma433amer.pdf>; “Pop Goes to College,” Newsweek, November 26, 1945, 104, 106, available at <https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1945-11-26_26_22/page/106/mode/2up?q=pop&view=theater>.
[39] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 128; “Veterans at College,” Life Magazine, January 7, 1946, 37, available at <https://books.google.com/books?id=BEkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA37&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false>; William F. McDermott, “Campus Caravans,” American Legion Magazine, September, 1947, 30 – 33, available at <americanlegionma433amer.pdf>.
[40] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 129; “[President] Conant Suggests GI Bill Revision,” The Harvard Crimson, January 23, 1945, available at <https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1945/1/23/conant-suggests-gi-bill-revision-pentering/>; Stanley Frank, “The GIs Reject Education,” Saturday Evening Post, August 18, 1945, 20, 101, 102.
[41] Robert Ochs, “An Interview with Robert F. Ochs for the Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II,” Rutgers University, November 24, 1997, available at <https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/images/PDFs/ochs_robert.pdf>; Roland Winter, “An Interview with Roland A. Winter for the Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II,” Rutgers University, September 15, 1995, available at <https://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/images/PDFs/winter_roland.pdf>.
[42] Thomas Childers, Soldier from the War Returning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009), 129; “The GI Student is Good,” Newsweek, July 8, 1946, 82, available at <https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek-us_1946-07-08_28_2/page/82/mode/2up?view=theater>.
[43] “Portrait Photo of Rod Serling,” Wikimedia Commons, August 27, 1959, available at <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rod_Serling_1959.JPG>.
[44] “Rod Serling Biography,” Biography.com, April 19, 2020, available at <https://www.biography.com/writer/rod-serling>; Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 10.
[45] Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 10.
[46] Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 10.
[47] Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (New York, NY: Citadel Press Books, 2013) 52-57; “Combat in Twilight: Rod Serling’s World War II,” The National World War II Museum, September 15, 2020, available at <https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/rod-serling-twilight>.
[48] Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (New York, NY: Citadel Press Books, 2013) 52, 58, 59.
[49] Bob Rosenbaum, “Life with Rod: A Conversation with Carol Serling,” interview, The Twilight Zone Magazine, April, 1987, available at <https://www.bobrosenbaum.com/transcripts/LifeWithRod_TZMagazine_Apr-87.htm>.
[50] Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (New York, NY: Citadel Press Books, 2013) 65, 66; Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 15.
[51] Bob Rosenbaum, “Life with Rod: A Conversation with Carol Serling,” interview, The Twilight Zone Magazine, April, 1987, available at <https://www.bobrosenbaum.com/transcripts/LifeWithRod_TZMagazine_Apr-87.htm>; Dennis McLellan, “Robert J. Serling Dies at 92; One of the Nation’s Top Aviation Writers,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2010, available at <https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-may-20-la-me-robert-serling-20100520-story.html>.
[52] Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (New York, NY: Citadel Press Books, 2013) 60, 61; Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 15.
[53] Bob Rosenbaum, “Life with Rod: A Conversation with Carol Serling,” interview, The Twilight Zone Magazine, April, 1987, available at <https://www.bobrosenbaum.com/transcripts/LifeWithRod_TZMagazine_Apr-87.htm>.
[54] Rod Serling, Patterns (Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, February 18, 2015), XXIII.
[55] Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 23, 24.
[56] John Kiesewetter, “Rod Serling’s First TV Drama Aired Here 65 Years Ago,” 91.7 WVXU News, July 10, 2016, available at <https://www.wvxu.org/media/2016-07-10/rod-serlings-first-tv-drama-aired-here-65-years-ago>.
[57] “1920s – 1960s : Television,” Elon University, accessed December 22, 2023, available at <https://www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/150-years/back-1920-1960/#:~:text=Television%20replaced%20radio%20as%20the,million%20had%20them%20by%201960.>; Robert Jay, “Number of Television Sets in 1952,” Television Obscurities, August 6, 2009, available at <https://www.tvobscurities.com/2009/08/number-of-television-sets-in-1952/#:~:text=Total%20%E2%80%93%209%2C687%2C000,signals%20had%20a%20television%20set.>.
[58] Bob Rosenbaum, “Life with Rod: A Conversation with Carol Serling,” interview, The Twilight Zone Magazine, April, 1987, available at <https://www.bobrosenbaum.com/transcripts/LifeWithRod_TZMagazine_Apr-87.htm>.
[59] Steve Schlich, “Seeking Rod Serling – Adventures in Beverly Hills,” Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, January 01, 2010, available at <https://rodserling.com/seeking-rod-serling-adventures-in-beverly-hills/>.
[60] Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 66, 67, 178, 179.
[61] Iain Marcks, “Writing for Television: Conversations with Rod Serling (Part 13),” Ithaca College, 0:32 – 0:47, available at <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzAwyJJCOts>.
[62] A.H. Weiler, “Screen: ‘Patterns’ Bows at Mayfair; Powerful Video Drama Scores in New Form,” The New York Times, March 28, 1956, available at <https://www.nytimes.com/1956/03/28/archives/screen-patterns-bows-at-mayfair-powerful-video-drama-scores-in-new.html>.
[63] Jack Gould, “Television in Review; ‘Patterns’ Is Hailed as a Notable Triumph,” The New York Times, January 17, 1955, available at <https://www.nytimes.com/1955/01/17/archives/television-in-review-patterns-is-hailed-as-a-notable-triumph.html>.
[64] Brian Murray, “The Enduring Legacy of the Twilight Zone,” The New Atlantis, no. 48, Winter 2016, 90-112, available at <https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-enduring-legacy-of-the-twilight-zone.>
[65] Rod Serling, Patterns (Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, February 18, 2015) 55.
[66] Rod Serling, Patterns (Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, February 18, 2015) 49.
[67] David Bianculli, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to The Walking Dead (New York, NY: Doubleday Publishing Company, November 15, 2016) 269, 270.
[68] Bob Rosenbaum, “Life with Rod: A Conversation with Carol Serling,” interview, The Twilight Zone Magazine, April, 1987, available at <https://www.bobrosenbaum.com/transcripts/LifeWithRod_TZMagazine_Apr-87.htm>; Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (New York, NY: Citadel Press Books, 2013) 60, 61; Nicholas Parisi, Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2018) 14.
