Veterans Day: reflecting on the immeasurable burdens borne on our behalf

After his military service, the Army sergeant returns to his cushy life as a banker, only to feel closer to the working-class men he commanded than the wealthy civilians in his fancy former world.

The Air Force captain who has nightmares about dangerous missions he flew returns to a wife who's moved on, and the low-paying job he finds requires him to report to a supervisor oblivious to the experience he gained serving his country.

The sailor who lost his hands in a fire puts up emotional barriers: He doesn't want pity but to be treated as normal.

These characters dramatically put the struggles of veterans to adjust after going to war before the American public in the movie The Best Years of Our Lives. That was in 1946, but the message still resonates.

The challenges veterans face haven't become any easier. But advocates for those who have worn the nation's military uniforms have become increasingly vocal about those challenges and what can be done to help meet them.

Efforts on veterans' behalf are many and varied.

Besides helping vets navigate the healthcare and benefit systems, groups are raising money for severely injured service members' rehabilitation and trying to educate the emotionally wounded on seeking treatment. They're lobbying officials to improve veterans' services and supporting veterans' runs for office.

The Bob Woodruff Foundation, started by the television newsman after he was gravely injured while covering the Iraq war, sponsored a celebrity-studded "Stand up for Heroes" concert in New York City on Thursday that featured Bruce Springsteen along with a band of wounded veterans who were trained through Musicorps, a rehabilitation program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

On Monday, the new Soul Repair Center opens at Brite Divinity School at TCU to help veterans deal with the "moral injury" of combat. (bit.ly/VNGpCT)

Still, Time magazine military correspondent Mark Thompson warned last year of an increasing gap between the military and U.S. civilians, with only 1 percent of the population having served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: "The makeup of today's force misses the heart of American might: the common bond between the U.S. military and the citizens who supply and fund it is the fulcrum that leverages U.S. power." (ti.me/YZvVjD)

A new crop of U.S. House members who served in Iraq and Afghanistan won election Tuesday, though the overall number of veterans in Congress will shrink. New House members include Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in Iraq was shot down and lost both legs, and Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican and Harvard graduate who left a legal career to join the Army, serving tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Just as important, though, has been the increasing recognition by government, employers and the public that it's imperative to help veterans transition from military jobs into civilian ones.

A tax credit enacted last year pays companies up to $5,600 for hiring unemployed veterans. And states along with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have been organizing job fairs and working on the problem of translating military training into civilian certification.

Last year, the Texas Legislature authorized $3 million for community colleges to turn vets' military experience into college credit and get them on accelerated degree plans. Seven colleges are taking part, primarily offering programs in health professions.

The unemployment rate for veterans fell to 6.3 percent in October, the VA reported, but the rate for post-9-11 vets was 10 percent. (1.usa.gov/Tzc4FP)

As President Barack Obama says in a Veterans Day proclamation, Americans should today "reflect on immeasurable burdens that have been borne by so few" and remember our task to "ensure our returning heroes can share in the opportunities they have given so much to defend." (1.usa.gov/rWcI4q)

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