Coming home from Iran or Afghanistan is a unique time in any veteran’s life. The pleasures are matched by the problems.
Among the pleasures: The open arms of a grateful nation, peace and quiet, sleeping in, no battle dress, the absence of IEDs, snipers, mortars, or ambushes, the company of friends and family, speaking and understanding the language. For many, home cooking is delicious as well as comforting.
Among the problems: carrying the pain and anguish of war, the loss of friendships made in combat zones, the sudden absence of goals and responsibility. While RHIP — rank has its privileges — in the service, it has no counterpart in the civilian world.
An even bigger problem is the lack of jobs. According to the Labor Department, unemployment among veterans is twice what it is for the general populace, more than 20 per cent.
All sorts of reasons are behind this shocking and disappointing figure. Remember, it’s not just a figure, a percentage spewed out of Washington. It is young men and women who answered the call when America said ‘we have a fight on our hands.’
It is the neighbor kid whom we welcomed home with cheers and hugs. It’s the co-worker who switched from business casual to battle dress and now wants to return to business casual. It is the family member who came home to find America in the throes of continuing economic chaos.
Sigmund Freud had a succinct and thought-provoking idea when asked what we need to enjoy life: Love and work, he said. It is by work we define ourselves, contribute to society, provide for ourselves and our families; when opportunities for work are non-existent, the opportunity to fully live is non-existent as well.
What to do? Good question. One of the answers is education. The GI Bill encourages vets to go back to school, probably the best advice since we were told to look both ways before crossing. In northeast Ohio, we’re rich with schools and many have programs designed for veterans, including Cuyahoga Community College, the title sponsor of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” (WNCX-98.5, Sundays, 0700 hours.)
That means they know and understand you’re not a kid out of high school whose most responsible position was getting the beer for the After Prom. They know what the job market looks like and how it will look in the near future. They have high regard for your experience and the major responsibilities you shouldered as a young troop.
At Tri-C and other schools, they have the specialists who can take what you’ve done, what you know, where you want to go, and tell you how to get there. Even if you don’t sign up and take advantage of the GI Bill, the advice from these specialists gives you a road map. With this knowledge comes some comfort, that is, instead of being a stranger in a strange land, you’re an adventurer who knows the terrain and the best ways to the goal.
Knowledge dissipates fear just as sunlight melts ice.
Here’s another tack that has more than one reward: Join and enjoy the service fraternities. Both the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion are committed to helping vets rejoin the work force. In these fraternities you find men and women who have ‘been there, done that,’ and are eager to share their knowledge.
Two more rewards here: First, you get to network (hate that term, but you understand) with business owners, employees who know where jobs are turning up, and hardscrabble help with the job market here. Second, the fun of membership is nonpareil. Whether manning (or womanning) the grill at the steak roast, providing an honor guard for fallen brothers and sisters, winning the long drive contest at the golf outing, marching on Memorial Day, providing assistance and encouragement to the walking wounded, or sharing a couple of beers with kindred spirits, these fraternities have open arms.
It is open arms vets need and open arms vets deserve. Welcome home.