NEWSVETERANS RIGHTS

Over the weekend, I noticed a new petition that was taking off like a rocket. Kevin Jenkins's petition asking the US Army for equal treatment for religious and non-religious soldiers gathered 1,500 signatures before I could even move it into the featured category.

The petition addresses an incident at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. In the fall, the base hosted and provided resources for a Christian music and speaking event. After the event, Sgt. Justin Griffith decided that it was only right if the base hosted a similar event for atheists as well. He went about organizing one, and got approval along every step of the way.

At the last step, however, all plans were scuttled when the base balked at providing the same type of funding it had provided to the religious event.

The Oregon Ducks came up short against Auburn this week, but December’s lame duck delivered for vets.

You may have missed it while buried in a blizzard or trapped in a holiday food coma, but Congress came through big-time for vets during the lame duck session.  In a surprising turn of events, when most people left the administration and Democratic leadership for dead, Washington showed some signs of life and made huge progress.  As the media focused on issues like tax cuts, nuclear stockpiles and food safety, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were really the big winners.

As the clock was ticking on the 111^th Congress, IAVA ratcheted the up pressure in DC to get some critical legislation passed. Here’s how new vets came up big in the lame duck:

After 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, our troops are coming home from war to a difficult economy, staggering foreclosure rates and high unemployment. Now, if Washington gets its way, they’ll also face their lowest pay raise in decades.

Nice. So as investment bankers get hefty bonuses on Wall Street, a Marine Corps Sergeant in Fallujah would get a minimal pay increase, or in the worst circumstances, a pay freeze.

According to new reports, the President has proposed a 1.4% raise for the military in 2011 - the lowest pay raise for service members since 1962, when no raise was given. His proposal comes as the White House is seeking ways to reduce the growing U.S. deficit and pull the economy out of the worst recession we’ve seen in decades.

In the last three years, active duty pay has increased between 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent. As the largest new veterans organization and as a member of The Military Coalition (TMC), we at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) know that in the midst of two wars, military pay is not a place to start freezing or cutting to pull us out of the recession.

When Americans reach for that second helping of turkey or stuffing today, war probably won’t be the topic of conversation at the Thanksgiving dinner table. That is, unless you have a loved one in Iraq, Afghanistan or South Korea.

While Black Friday looms, the disconnect between our military and the American public is at its most palpable since I came home from Iraq in 2004. Back then, Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction was front-page news and dinnertime discussion. Today, it’s Prince William’s engagement, Eva Longoria’s divorce and Skating with the Stars.  Instead of preparing for the surge of new veterans arriving home, or following the developments on the Korean Peninsula where nearly 30,000 American troops are stationed, the country is hysterical over Oprah’s new Favorite Things for the holidays. Something’s gotta give.

As a country, we need a dose of reality this Thanksgiving – and I don’t mean reality TV. One real-life hero who should be the topic of conversation at every dinner table across the country today is Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta.

Today our country will observe Veterans Day. For some, it is just another federal holiday. For others, Veterans Day is what it was intended to be: a day in which we remember and honor all who, throughout our history, have worn the uniform of our nation’s armed forces.

Veterans Day began as “Armistice Day,” a national holiday proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I.

Back then, it was called “The Great War” and “The War To End All Wars.” No one could imagine humankind ever fighting another such war. But we all know what has happened since: our armed forces have fought in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq and numerous other places around the globe.

Throughout our history, a small percentage of our population has served in our nation’s military to protect all of us and the liberties we enjoy. While having a day to remember their sacrifices is a good idea, an even better idea would be to honor them every day.

This is the guiding principle behind the Education Center at The Wall. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is campaigning to build this learning facility near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, to put faces to the names on The Wall and tell some of the stories of the more than 58,000 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. The Center will include a wall of faces which will show each fallen soldier's photo on their birthday. It will also display some of the more than 150,000 items left at The Wall in tribute. It will feature a timeline of events during the war and special displays about different aspects of those who served.

For months, our country has been divided over “ObamaCare,” Bush tax cuts and Wall Street bailouts. But with the election finally behind us, it’s time for all Americans to come together and find some common ground.  It won’t be around immigration reform or deficit spending, but it can be around one critical and universal issue: Veterans Day.

Veterans Day is easily forgotten. It falls right after the election and right before the holidays, and for many Americans, it’s a holiday that usually drops off the radar. Yet, for the millions of veterans who have served our country throughout history, this is our day. A day to be honored, a day to remember our fallen and a day to remind all Americans that we are a nation at war.

But this wasn’t always the case.

Many of us have read about the important leaders behind our country’s defining social movements. Rosa Parks and civil rights. Susan B. Anthony and women’s rights. Harvey Milk and gay rights. But what many people don’t realize is that there is a leader behind the movement to honor our nation’s veterans: Alvin King.

Today’s election marks the end of an epic, historic campaign season that included witches, rallies for sanity, the Tea Party and a journalist handcuffed by a campaign. From Whitman to Reid to Miller, candidates have spent more than ever, fought more than ever and given us an election cycle of firsts.

But there is another first no one is really talking about: the surge of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans running this year.

Today, 27 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will seek national office. This is nearly four times the number of veterans of those wars currently serving in Congress. Twenty-five are campaigning for House seats and two are running for the Senate. Eighteen are running as Republicans, nine as Democrats. They are as ideologically diverse as the electorate they hope to represent and share only one agenda item: their desire to continue their service.

Paul Rieckhoff is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the author of Chasing Ghosts.

After nearly a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, over 2 million Americans have served and a trillion dollars have been spent. Yet only 3 percent of Americans have war on their radar this election.

And where’s Congress? Spinning on the campaign trail, scrambling for last-minute endorsements and as Tom Brokaw rightly noted in The New York Times this week, still doing nothing to wake up the country about the surge of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Paul Rieckhoff is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the author of Chasing Ghosts.

Lately, I’ve had a lot of conversations with elected officials urging them to put points on the board for new veterans and deliver real results to our community. I’ve heard a lot of talk, a lot of promises and a lot of “I support our troops and veterans.”  But I’ve seen very few concrete results. The problem is, these conversations were taking place in the wrong town – Washington, D.C.   

But there are places in this country where we are seeing local action. One bright spot is movement from leaders like Mayor Gavin Newsom in San Francisco.

Last March, my team and I met with Mayor Newsom to see how we could collaborate on veterans’ issues in his city. During that first conversation, we talked about what issues IAVA members in the area were facing, and about the misconception that there are no good programs or resources for veterans out there.  There is definitely a huge need for new programs, and we consistently see that the problem is connecting veterans with existing resources.

To fix this, we suggested Mayor Newsom use San Francisco’s 311 hotline. It is a citywide centralized portal where San Franciscans find information, resources and assistance when they need it.  If it works for potholes, dog licenses, and recycling, why couldn’t it work for homeless Vietnam vets or Iraq and Afghanistan vets trying to use the GI Bill? It’s a “one-stop-shop” where vets could be directed to find jobs in the Bay Area, ask questions about mental health care at the local VA, and get help with their new education benefits.

Paul Rieckhoff is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the author of Chasing Ghosts.

Veterans don’t need lip service. They need jobs. And so far, we haven’t seen any meaningful action coming from Washington. But a powerful ally is stepping up to fill the void: The Private Sector.

None of us need reminding that we’re in one of the worst economies in decades.  Over 15 million Americans are jobless, and veterans are being hit even harder. Young veterans are facing 20% unemployment, a rate that has increased significantly from just 6.1% in 2007.

Veterans like Adam Bryant are being left out in the cold.

Adam deployed for a year to Afghanistan in 2008. While there, he managed million dollar infrastructure projects, held a security clearance, and led his unit as a gunner on dangerous combat patrols. He also proved himself as an accomplished photographer and photojournalist.

Yet, when he got home, no one would hire him. Adam sent out dozens of resumes only to receive radio silence.  The only interview he got was at The Cheesecake Factory where, after describing his military qualifications, he was discounted for lack of experience waiting tables.

Adam is just one of thousands of new veterans struggling to make the leap from military service to the civilian workforce. And still, Congress has failed to deliver.