The Country Owes 'Big Time' to These Veterans

The country had already abandoned the Veterans of the previous decades and our wars since WWII and the many issues ignored, PTS, Agent Orange, Desert Storms Gulf War Syndrome and so many more while under funding the VA and really so in the past decade plus. Many many of the brothers and sisters of have passed on because of and now many of these recent Vets have also. These brothers and sisters shouldn't have to continue the same battles on their home turf.

National Guard soldiers and airmen face unemployment crisis

No longer 'weekend warriors,' an estimated 20% of returning Guard members in the U.S. are jobless. Some employers are reluctant to hire them because, unlike other veterans, they can be called up again.

November 23, 2012 - For 1st Lt. Ernest Rodriguez, weekly chats with his young daughter via phone or Skype are the highlight of duty in Afghanistan.

The father from Sacramento desperately wants to come home to 7-year-old Samantha. But instead, he has signed up for another year in the war zone. He needs the money and he knows that returning National Guard troops face high unemployment.

More than half of those in his unit had no work when they got back to California in August. Across the country, an estimated 20% of returning National Guard soldiers and airmen are without jobs, former National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Craig R. McKinley told Congress earlier this year. That is twice the rate for all military veterans who have served since September 2001.

The Obama administration has helped reduce the unemployment rate for all recent veterans, from 15% nearly two years ago to 10% last month, by developing online tools to help returning troops find jobs, working with employers to increase recruitment and retention, and signing into law tax credits for hiring veterans.

But the rate remains stubbornly high for National Guard members and military reservists. Some employers are reluctant to hire them because, unlike other veterans joining the civilian workforce, they can be called up again. read more>>>

This Executive Branch their Cabinet and this Veterans Administration have combined to do what they can under their limited government abilities, some in Congress, where the abilities as representatives of the people are held, have helped others not so same in the States. Way past time the Country stood up, way past!