01:00 AM EDT on Monday, June 21, 2004

Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of the GI Bill, or, as it is now known, the Montgomery GI Bill, and, according to www.military.com, nearly half of those eligible for educational benefits do not use them despite that being the primary reason many military personnel give for joining the service.

The Montgomery GI Bill can be worth over $35,000 in benefits, including up to 36 months of education benefits for college, business, technical or vocational courses, certification tests, distance-learning correspondence courses, apprenticeship/job training and flight training. Those eligible typically have 10 years to use the benefits after being discharged. Over 20 million military members and veterans have been educated under the bill's provisions.

A full-time student enrolled in a regionally or nationally accredited college or university may receive up to $985 a month to cover education benefits, including high-tech or vocational-technical programs.

You qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill if: you contribute $100 a month for the first 12 months you are on active duty, or qualify under a special conversion provision and you are honorably discharged. You must also have completed high school or have an equivalency certificate before you apply for benefits and have served at least two years on active duty.

Completion of VA Form 22-1990, application for education benefits, will initiate the process for GI Bill benefits, or phone the Department of Veterans Affairs, toll free, at (888) GI-BILL-1, or visit www.military.com for details on the Montgomery GI Bill.

State House garden will be renamed 'Garden of Heroes' The Rhode Island General Assembly last Wednesday (June 16) unanimously approved legislation to rename a State House garden "The Garden of Heroes" in honor of Rhode Island's fallen soldiers.

The bills were sponsored in the Senate by Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed (D-District 13, Newport, Jamestown) and in the House by Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox (D-District 4, Providence) on behalf of Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty.

The garden, on the southwest lawn of the State House, was constructed for the motion picture Amistad. It will be dedicated to Rhode Island members of the military who were killed or die in the line of duty whiled serving since Sept. 11, 2001.

"The noble soldiers we are honoring with this memorial garden have given their lives for the sake of ending terrorism. This garden will serve as a powerful symbol of the peace they fought so bravely and selflessly to establish," said Representative Fox.

The bills will now be sent to the governor for his consideration.

Wartime musical drama set at Linden Place in Bristol Bristol, a town well-known for its magnificent Fourth of July celebrations, will be adding this year a musical drama about wartime and how relationships are affected by armed conflict. The show, "We Mustn't Say Goodbye: Music from Wartime and Letters from the Front," will be presented on July 2, at 7 p.m., at the Linden Place ballroom at 500 Hope St.

Dramatic scenes, as well the reading of letters loaned by Judy Barrett Litoff, history professor at Bryant College, from her collection of women's writings, and a number of letters researched by Evelyn Cherpak, curator at the Naval Historical Archives at the Newport War College, will be featured between musical interludes and vocals that depict the emotional climate of the United States at war.

The show will feature a USO setting with the live big-band sounds of the Jerry Silva Music Ensemble. Against this backdrop, the brief dramatic scenes and letters will tell the story of those who left home, fought, returned, or not, and reentered post-war life.

Tickets for this Playwrights Place Productions are $10 with a discount for any Friend of Linden Place. Phone (401) 253-0390 or (401) 849-3611 for reservations. The program's flyer may be viewed online at www.playwrightsplace.com.

Construction material needed for Saratoga group's building At the beginning of this year, the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation announced it had reached an agreement in principle on a multi-year lease to enable the nonprofit group to consolidate most of its operations in a new headquarters building at 6854 Post Rd. in North Kingstown.

The Foundation intends to open the retired aircraft carrier Saratoga as a family attraction and education center at Quonset/Davisville and currently operates the Russian Sub Museum at Collier Point Park, off Allens Avenue in Providence, site of the Russian cruise-missile submarine Juliett 484.

Renovation work has continued on the 6,000-square-foot building to provide the group with much-needed office and meeting space, along with a volunteer workshop and mini museum.

According to Frank Lennon, who is leading the group's efforts, additional building material is needed to continue renovating what was essentially a shell building.

As work now turns to finishing the interior, donations are needed for sheet rock, window and door trim, vinyl baseboard, insulation, interior doors, lock and passage sets, a ceiling-grid system and tiles, light troffers and joint compound.

Those who want to donate any of the above items or get involved with the project should call the Foundation at (401) 521-3600, or send e-mail to SaratogaMuseum [at] aol.com.

American Legion Post 1 will meet tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Macera's Garden Room in Cranston.

Persian Gulf War Information and Relief Commission The commission will assemble on Wednesday at Pasteur Building, 600 New London Ave., Cranston, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Italian-American War Veterans of the US State Commander John Cianci will conduct the department's monthly meeting on Wednesday at the VA Medical Center, 830 Chalkstone Ave., Providence, starting at 7:30 p.m., in Classroom 1 on the fifth floor.

Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 818 will host the state council meeting on Thursday, at 7 p.m., in the Lincoln Senior Center at 44 Chapel St., and refreshments will be served.

Marine Corps League The Bucci-Atwood Detachment will meet Wednesday at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, Fields Point, Providence, at 7 p.m. Col. Higgins Detachment will sponsor the 11th annual Col. Stan Pratt memorial scholarship golf tournament at Wanumetonomy Golf Club in Middletown on July 12. The entry fee is $130 or $520 per foursome. For more information, phone Barry Clark at (401) 847-8266.

Military Order of the Purple Heart The Department of Rhode Island and Oliver Hazard Perry Chapter 1812 will gather on Thursday at the R.I. Veterans Home, 480 Metacom Ave., Bristol, at 2 p.m.

R.I. Veterans Home Family Council The group will meet Friday at the R.I. Veterans Home in Bristol, at 1 p.m., in the library. Family members are invited and refreshments will be served.

43d Infantry Division Veterans Association The Rhode Island Winged Victory Division meeting will be held on Saturday , at 2 p.m., at the Arsenal, 176 Benefit St., Providence.

George W. Reilly can be reached at VeteransColumn [at] aol.com or by writing to the Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902.