Hubster pointed me to an article at Townhall written by Ollie North concerning the prejudicial non-hiring practices going on in this country towards the men and women that serve/served in our armed forces. Since I haven’t had any coffee yet and can’t work up a mean spirited rant against the stupidity against this sort of anti-military mentality… well, I will just give a little passage from Ollie:
"While preparing a documentary on the medical treatment our wounded warriors receive, a representative of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) told me that while health care and rehabilitation for those who have been injured has vastly improved since the Vietnam era -- the "real scandal is how many veterans of this war are unemployed." I initially thought he was referring to those who had been injured by enemy fire -- but he quickly educated me: "You don't have to be wounded in action to be 'unemployable.' Just to have served in this war makes it tougher to get a job."
Unfortunately, he's right. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the national unemployment rate is hovering around 4.8 percent. But for veterans of the Global War on Terror (GWOT), the unemployment rate is more than three times higher -- 15.6 percent. Why?
Part of the answer is found in the fact that so few corporate executives and personnel managers are veterans themselves. Couple that with a drumbeat of adverse publicity about the war, a mainstream media fixation on military "atrocities" and the constant harping about post-traumatic stress disorder -- PTSD -- and one has to wonder how any war veteran gets hired. On a recent flight to Texas, my seatmate, a corporate CEO, asked if "all the troops coming back from 'over there' were 'screwed up.'" He cited a study alleging that, "more than a third of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan needed psychological treatment." The actual number -- according to the American Medical Association -- is 35 percent -- a figure compiled by psychiatrists who have made diagnosing PTSD a self-employment program."
I can't believe that after all the enlightenment about how horribly the Vietnam Vets were treating and how the civilians are so pro-military now, why this is happening. I've been fortunate in my life to have worked with many Vets and a majority of them are hard working no-nonsense nose to the grind stone folk. To deprive them of and opportunity to make decent money after their time served is just asinine. Anyway, Ollie says it much better than I ever could - so go read the whole thing. And then, if any of you are looking to hire someone or know of a business that needs people, direct them to this site:
Posted by Ethne at April 1, 2006 10:08 AM | TrackBack