The following is a CNN story:
Young veterans struggle to find jobs
"The nation's vets leave one war to fight another one at home," Iraq war veteran Josh Hopper wrote to me in an e-mail. The war at home he was referring to was not the battle to rehabilitate his body from a severe wound, or the fight to restore his mind from psychological trauma, but his war to find work.
Hopper and many other young veterans like him are risking their lives overseas, but once they leave the military, they are discovering that employers back home don't always value their skills. In 2005, the unemployment rate for veterans age 20-to-24 was almost double the rate for non-veterans in the same age group, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We wanted to know why.
One former Marine told me some employers saw the years he spent serving his country as "taking a few years off."
The Department of Veterans Affairs suspects some employers can't see how military experience can translate to the working world.
A veteran's issues expert even claims that some employers are scared to hire veterans.
In our report tonight, we'll look into what the military is doing to help veterans gets jobs and why some veterans say that for many employers -- "Support Our Troops" -- doesn't seem to include hiring veterans so they can support themselves.
Posted By Chuck Hadad, CNN Producer: 4:45 PM ET
2006-11-13
10:21:12
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