Socioeconomic Status of World War II Veterans by Race: An Empirical Test of the Bridging Hypothesis

Abstract: Reasons for positive returns to military duty for World War II veterans twenty years after discharg are explored. The bridging hypothesis appears to be overly broad: what matters most for white veterans is education, training and personal independence. In contrast to the bridging literature, black veterans generally benefited less than white veterans from birdging expereinces but gained sub-stantially from employment in government, which may be associated with the veterans' preference status of ex-servicemen.