Rolling Out the Green Carpet

By Richard Behar.

A popular war sure has its pluses. While federal law ensures that the . nation's 225,000 active reservists can go home to their old jobs -- and paychecks -- many companies and legislators want to do even more for the victorious troops, the first of whom are now returning. Congress is suddenly awash in bills that would award them all sorts of benefits: health care, increased G.I. Bill education benefits, better access to home loans. The House of Representatives this week may vote on a bill to raise combat pay, retroactive to Jan. 16, the day the war began.

Employers have been pitching in while the troops were away. In a survey of firms in seven large cities, 52% are paying their gulf-stationed employees, and 25% of those will continue until the troops are mustered out, according to William M. Mercer, a consulting firm. Even employers who can't be so generous are looking for ways to help. "State law does not allow us to pay the salaries of people who are activated," complains police chief Billy White of Tupelo, Miss., where several cops have been making considerably less as reservists than their $1,800 monthly salaries. "So everybody's been chipping in $5 to $10 to help out these families."

But with the war coming in the trough of a recession, some companies stopped paying reservists on active duty and were happy to lose the burden. At USAir, 140 pilots were called to the military, but that fit right in with the struggling airline's plans. It furloughed 211 pilots last year and will send an additional 600 their walking papers in 1991. Such companies may have trouble reabsorbing reservists who demand their jobs back, but experts don't expect the phenomenon to have much impact on the U.S. economy, largely because troops will march home in relatively small groups over many months.

With their jobs secure, the biggest problem facing most returnees will be simply fighting off the everyday monotony that is bound to creep back into their lives after the life-and-death stimulation of war. "There's going to be a very high high, followed by a natural letdown," says Meg Falk, head of the Navy Family Support Program. "Everyone's got to come down to earth."

Soldiers looking to maintain their morale can take advantage of the myriad freebies and perks that businesses are offering: a free tour of Universal Studios, free baseball tickets, discounts of up to 70% on major airlines, possibly even free tuition at some state colleges (Minnesota and Nevada). "We are very grateful for the job that they did," says Morris Lasky, president of Lodging Unlimited, a hotel-management company offering free rooms to returning vets. "We want to add some fun to their homecoming." Iowa's Steamboat Casino River Cruises gives vets a free trip down the Mississippi, while California's wine country is pushing free lodging, meals and wine -- a welcome opportunity after months of booze-free life in Saudi Arabia.

More primal desires can be satisfied at the Mustang Ranch, a legal bordello near Reno, which is offering gulf heroes a free day with a floozy. Some 800 servicemen have already signed on. Soldiers will be soldiers.

With reporting by Gisela Bolte/Washington