71 Years Ago: On June 22nd, 1944 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly known as the G.I. Bill of Rights, into law. In addition to providing unemployment insurance and medical care, one of the most significant things this act did was to give tuition assistance to those veterans who wanted to go to college or receive job training.It also made home loans available for veterans to encourage them to build new homes, bringing about the rise of suburban living and, ultimately, contributed to the decline of downtown community’s across the United States, including Syracuse.