This week, 30 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans took Capitol Hill by storm. Hailing from 14 different states, they brought diverse military, professional and personal experiences from the battlefield to Washington, D.C. And they made a huge impact.
Our teams (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot and Golf) met with the First Lady at the White House. And they sat down with over 100 Congressional offices and leaders at the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. They shared their stories, their challenges and their hopes for results from Washington.
They stormed for their own reasons:
“I'm walking the halls of congress this week for my brother Darrin Rossi, who committed suicide, and every other vet with the invisible wounds of war.”- Donna Bachler
“I'm walking the halls of congress because my good friend from the Marine Corps hasn't worked for two years and is now selling drugs for income. There has to be a better solution for America’s heroes.” -Tyler Tannahill
“I’m walking the halls of Congress for a good friend Nick Coleman (USMC) who could have been with us had the PTSD and financial stress of unemployment not resulted in his receiving his Taps trumpet.” - Chris Goehner
But they also came to fight for IAVA’s number one policy priority: ending new veteran unemployment.
In 2010, the jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans hit a staggering 11.5 percent, up dramatically from 6.1 percent in 2007. Our newest generation of heroes are leaving the toughest part of the world, and returning home to the toughest job market in decades. I get emails every week from decorated men and women who are having trouble just landing an interview. Other vets tell me stories about blatant job discrimination stemming from concerns about redeployment and stereotypes around the stigma of mental health injuries.
Hugh Conlon is another veteran who walked the halls of Congress with us this week. Hugh is from Augusta, Georgia and served in the Army for 20 years as a Sergeant First Class. He served three combat tours as a medic, most recently as a Senior Medical non-commissioned officer for an Iraqi National Police Brigade in Iraq. Despite his extensive experience as a medic in combat zones, Hugh was unable to find a job in the medical field when he left the Army. He was turned down for positions ranging from driving an ambulance to admitting patients to the hospital -- all because civilian employers didn’t understand his military experience. That’s no way for America to support the troops.
It’s stories like Hugh’s that motivated us all week long on Capitol Hill. We pushed through the rain and the threats of a government shut-down, and we jump-started a national conversation. But we’re just getting started. Storm the Hill is the beginning of a sustained campaign focused on veteran unemployment. All year, we will engage government, private and nonprofit partners to achieve IAVA’s ultimate goal of lowering the unemployment rate for new veterans by Veteran’s Day (11/11/11).
Join Donna, Tyler, Chris, Hugh and other veterans from across America who stormed the Hill this week, and us help make new veteran unemployment a top priority for Capitol Hill, the president, and for all Americans. 

Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff
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http://iinformyou.com/wow/1825/activisions-bobby-kotick-finds-jobs-for-vets/
and yet this is the kind a crap they pull:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/photos/the-kill-team-photos-20110327/0232760
there's just been too many similar incidents to blame a few bad apples; we all know there is a long list of these incidents, and the problem is systemic, the problem likely lies in the command, but who is going set things straight if not vets?
vets, you have a voice in these matters, you are well positioned to bring these problems into the spotlight and put pressure on the system.
everytime i see a ReikhoffPost, i immediately think: what's he asking for now?
gotta ask is america your giving tree? are you expecting some big prize for your volunteered service?
americans are good folks, we'll take care of ya, but take a good long look at what the military is doing in afghanistan. what is it accomplishing really? we all know it's time to wrap things up, and get back to taking care of our domestic affairs. no "troop redeployment" plans. it's time to simply bring everybody home.
you want us to take care of you?
well, we are not a bottomless pit, and you know that. use your voice as vets to do what's right by the american people, help us end this crazy endless war.
help us, help you.
How can any of you self serving and glutonous beings sleep at night knowing that every time you see a street person or a report about another suicide, chances are it is one of our great Warriors? If you experienced War Trauma, you haven't slept for months, you can no longer trust anyone, not even your family, and the pain, anguish, anger and despair is beyond our Behavioral Health Systems ability to provide adequate treatment services.
Wake up America, we are facing an Epidemic of serious injuries and loss of our greatest human resources availlabe on the home front. Come on, get creative and make meaningful employment available for everyone who returns from our Wars and for their families as well.
So we're all dumb, non-thinking robots? Apparently you have little real contact with modern veterans or active duty military members.
"A hero is someone who saves a life, not takes a life."
A rather narrow definition that runs contrary to reality.
A military can not function if each soldiers if each soldier choses which orders to follow or not follow. To think otherwise is incredibly naive and ignorant. The military acts for the "Will of the People" as interpreted by our government. If our government misuses the military, it is OUR fault for failing in their oversight, not the soldiers. If our governemnt gets hijacked by special interests and corporations, it is OUR fault for not protecting our own rights, not the soldiers.
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snprelief4.htm
Critical Solutions Internatio¬nal, Inc., Carrollton¬, Texas, was awarded on March 16 a $214,284,9¬32 firm-fixed¬-price contract. The award will provide for the procuremen¬t of 118 vehicle mounted mine-detec¬tion MKK II Type II systems. Work will be performed in Gauteng, South Africa, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 16, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich., is the contractin¬g activity (W56HZV-08¬-D-0001).
American company gets quarter billion contract and is going to build the trucks in Africa.
What a great country. A race to the bottom. Sad
The neocon wars exist to provide jobs already, why would the people advocating these ventures care about soldiers when they get home? 'Vets want a job? - let them re-enlist!'
Look, I know you thought you were fighting "for America" over there - but you weren't. You were fighting for corporations, and corporations view 'human resource' as a discardable, low-value expense.
What we need to do is change the way Americans view these neocolonial ventures - eiother we accept them as essentially mercenary or reject them entirely and demand a miltary positioned solely for defense of the nation and its constitution.
Then maybe we can have coherent policy on vetern benefits and aid based on what we really expect them to do and what they really believe they are doing for us.
oh, right. U threw him under the bus already.