More than 1,100 colleges, universities and schools across the country have entered into Yellow Ribbon Program agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve financial aid for veterans participating in the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

More than 3,400 agreements were received from the 1,100 schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision of the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, which funds tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate. Institutions can contribute up to 50 percent of those expenses, and the VA will match this additional funding for eligible students.

The Yellow Ribbon program is reserved for veterans eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill at the 100-percent benefit level. This includes those who served at least 36 months on active duty or served at least 30 continuous days and were discharged due to a service-related injury.

The maximum benefit allows every eligible veteran, service member, reservist and National Guard member an opportunity to receive an in-state, undergraduate education at a public institution at no cost.

Provisions of the program include payments for tuition and fees, housing, and a books and supplies stipend. Benefits are payable for training pursued on or after Aug. 1, 2009. The tuition and fee benefit is paid directly to the school.

The Yellow Ribbon program in Rhode Island is up and running at Brown University (for 10 undergraduates up to $14,000 per year), Bryant University (10 undergraduates up to $8,000 annually),

Johnson & Wales University (up to 62 students in undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs with stipends ranging from $101 to $4,777) and New England Institute of Technology (unlimited undergraduates in all programs up to $1,404).

Assistance can also be found at Roger Williams University (6 undergraduates up to $9,366) and Salve Regina University (40 students in all programs with up to $10,236 for undergraduates and $948 for graduate students). See the complete list of participating schools in the Yellow Ribbon Program at http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_Bill_Info/CH33/YRP/YRP_List.htm.

Additional information about the Post-9/11 GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon program, as well as VA’s other educational benefits, can be obtained by visiting VA’s Web site www.gibill.va.gov or by calling (888) GIBILL-1 (or 888-442-4551).

Airmen honored

Amid all the horror stories of World War II, there was only one incident in which members of the U.S. Armed Forces died in Smithfield while performing their military duties. On Aug. 5, 1943, a U.S. Army Air Corps twin-engine aircraft experienced right-engine failure and crashed on the Georgiaville side of Wolf Hill. Three servicemen lost their lives, one of them from Pawtucket.

The crash site, according to Providence Journal records, reportedly occurred on a rocky ledge on Wolf Hill, about a mile west of Farnum Pike, and about a mile and a half south from the old Smithfield Airport, which was then located where Bryant University is today. The debris field was supposedly spread over an area 50 yards long and 20 yards wide.

The plane was a Lockheed RB-34-A, a target tug, whose function was to tow canvas gunnery targets a safe distance behind it, usually over open water, where fighter pilots would take turns making runs at it with their aircraft. According to the now-declassified official Army Air Corps accident investigation report, the plane was being ferried from Westover Field in Massachusetts to Otis Air Base in Falmouth, Mass.

The deaths of these airmen was forgotten, and there has been little acknowledgment of their loss, until now. Thanks to the work of a committee of Smithfield veterans’ organizations and donations from residents and businesses in town, a memorial ceremony to honor the sacrifice of these three men will be held on Saturday, at Deerfield Park, at 11 a.m.

Three bricks located at the base of the flagpole at the Smithfield Veterans Memorial in Deerfield Park honor the memory of the men killed in the Wolf Hill crash: Lt. Saul Winsten, a Pawtucket native, Lt. Otis R. Portewig, and Tech. Sgt. Herbert D. Booth. For more information call Skip Sweeney, memorial committee chairman, at (401) 232-2621. A Web page devoted to this topic is available at http://www.smithfieldri.com/wolfhillplanecrash.htm.

Canteen reopens

The Providence VA Medical Center’s newly renovated canteen food court will reopen on Thursday, at 7 a.m., in the basement of the main building. The canteen, with a new look, will provide customers with a wide selection of freshly prepared, trans fat-free foods at reasonable prices along with great hospitality. For more information call Tom Antonaccio at (401) 273-7100, ext. 3369.

•American Legion: Balfour-Cole Post 64, 170 Pleasant View Ave., Smithfield, will meet Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m.; Post 10’s scholarship fundraiser chicken barbecue with door prizes and raffles will be held on Aug. 9, at 1 p.m., at 830 Willett Ave. in Riverside. This outdoor event is open to the public. Tickets, available at the post home, are $12 for adults; $6 for children under 12.

Send veterans’ meeting and news items to George W. Reilly at VeteransColumn@verizon.net or write to The Veterans Journal Column at The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902. Veterans’ meeting and feature items can be read and posted for free at http://projothebeat.com/