The state of the economy is a well-known story these days and the unemployment rate is just one indicator of the trouble.  Unemployment rates linger around 8.3 percent (as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS] on March 9 for February 2012).  The number of long-term unemployed (classified as those unemployed for 27 weeks or more) remained unchanged in February, hovering at 5.4 million people (approximately 43 percent of the total unemployed).  The statistics related to unemployment among America’s veterans, however, are especially troubling. 

According to a March 20 report from the BLS, for those veterans serving active-duty since 2001 (known as the Gulf War-era II veterans) the unemployment rate was 12.1 percent in 2011.  The jobless rate for all veterans was 8.3 percent, comparable to that of the US population as a whole.   The BLS report points out that 26 percent of Gulf War-era II veterans reported a service related disability in August 2011 while only 14 percent of all veterans reported the same.  There can be little doubt from these statistics that America’s bravest men and women, those who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the nation’s safety, have come home to a bleak employment situation. 

Unemployment among veterans has been a persistent problem.  In a 1972 report of the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education, Chairman Lawrence Davenport encouraged “an all-out national effort” to address the “crisis” of unemployment among returning Vietnam veterans (during a time of otherwise relatively high general unemployment).  In another era of high unemployment, America’s veterans are returning home to face seemingly insurmountable obstacles in finding meaningful employment.  It is encouraging, however, to see that some organizations are taking this collective responsibility as their own and working to make a difference in the lives of our military men and women and their families. 

On March 21, Aon and Wounded Warrior Project hosted their 4th Annual Salute to America’s Wounded Warriors at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.  Approximately 45 wounded veterans had the opportunity to meet with recruiters from more than 60 companies with open positions and a commitment to supporting the nation’s veterans.  In addition to the veterans in attendance, a handful of military spouses also participated.  Without question, military spouses and families make a tremendous sacrifice as well as their loved one in uniform and we should support their achievement as well.  While I was not at this event, I asked several American Public University System (APUS) recruiters and staff to participate.  They reported back that they were impressed by the high quality of the candidates they met. 

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Today is Veterans Day, a day designed to celebrate our nation’s armed forces, their commitment, and their ultimate sacrifices.  Though this day comes only once each year, the special individuals to whom it is dedicated deserve our thanks every day.  The last year has been a tumultuous one for the entire world and the men and women of the American military have been engaged in various theaters of operations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.  At home and abroad, US military forces continue to provide proof of General Douglas MacArthur’s statement that, “Americans never quit.” 

Our military responded to a series of natural disasters this year.  In March, through Operation Tomodachi (Japanese for “friendship”) the Marines, Navy, and Air Force offered humanitarian and disaster relief assistance to the Japanese people affected by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 15,000 and left millions more homeless.  Marine helicopter units delivered thousands of pounds of rice, bread, and other food items to the hardest hit areas.  In addition, a significant number of American naval ships responded including the USS McCampbell, the USS Curtis, the USS Mustin, and the USS Ronald Reagan. 

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) moved into action when a series of severe storms this past Spring plagued the nation’s mid-section.  Tornadoes, floods, and other significant weather events left thousands in a desperate state.  The USACE worked diligently to ensure the safety of structures following those storms and to assist in meeting the basic needs of those impacted by the devastation. 

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Aerial view of the planned 9/11 memorial on the site of the World Trade Center. (photo from 9/11 Memorial website)

It has been a decade since the unprecedented terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  Despite the time that has passed, our memories of that day remain fresh and raw.  More than 3,000 lives were lost in the attacks at New York City and the Pentagon as terrorist hijackers flew two planes into the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon.  More than 400 firefighters, police officers, and other first responders lost their lives responding to the tragedies in New York and Washington.  Thanks to the brave actions of the passengers of United Flight 93, countless more lives were saved.  All 45 people aboard that flight were killed as a brave few attacked the hijackers, forcing the plane down in a field in rural Pennsylvania.  Had the hijackers completed their mission with an attack from Flight 93 on any strategic location in Washington, the total death toll would have been higher.

Less than a month later, the US military mobilized to Afghanistan to rout out the Taliban regime which had provided safe harbor to the terrorist mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden.  Within a few years of entering Afghanistan, the US military also began mobilizing to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. 

Approximately three-quarters of APUS’ student body have served as active military personnel and have been directly involved in these missions.  Some of them made the ultimate sacrifice in these two theaters of action.  To date, more than 6,000 American military personnel have lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan since those wars began.  Each of us owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the first responders who risked their lives to assist those trapped in the rubble in New York City and at the Pentagon, to our men and women in uniform, and to the many people who work diligently to identify and avert future attacks.  I encourage everyone to take a moment to reflect on the lives lost on that fateful September day and to commemorate and honor those who have continued to risk their lives to protect our nation and its citizens. 

Two months to the day after the attacks, President Bush said, “’Time is passing.  Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th.  We will remember every rescuer who died in honor.  We will remember every family that lives in grief.  We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.’”  These words are as accurate today as they were ten years ago.  Even as we near completion of an official memorial to victims in New York, celebrate the toppling of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the capture and execution of Saddam Hussein, and the death of Osama bin Laden earlier this year at the hands of US special forces, we will always remember that day, the tragedy it brought to our entire nation, and those who have given their lives since to ensure that the freedoms on which this nation was established remain intact for future generations. 

In honor of this weekend, Story Corps preserves some of the voices of those affected by 9/11.

I recently received an email that was quite touching and I thought worth sharing here (see below).  SSgt Darrell “Shifty” Powers served with the 101st Airborne Infantry Easy Company.  Anyone who has read Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers or seen the HBO hit series by the same name will recognize Shifty’s name.  Actor Peter Youngblood Hills portrays Shifty’s character on the HBO series.

SSgt Powers died at his home in Dickenson County, Virginia on June 17 at the age of 86 after losing a prolonged battle with cancer.  While the story was covered by several local news outlets in and around Shifty’s hometown in rural Virginia, the story and Shifty’s significance to American history seems to have been lost on the national media. 

The email I received was written by an individual who met Powers in a Philadelphia airport a couple of years before Shifty’s death.  After helping Powers confirm that he was waiting at the correct gate, the email’s author engaged in some small talk with the elderly man that led the author to discover that he was chit-chatting with a true American hero.  After recognizing the emblem of the 101st Airborne on Powers’ hat, the author quickly discovered that Powers was not only a World War II veteran, he was in fact a man of notable military experience and distinction. 

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