CHARLOTTE, NC – For soldiers coming home, there’s a lingering question: can they live the American Dream they’ve fought to defend?
“Every place is making a conscious effort to hire the vet,” said Gregg Wyer, co-owner of American Army Navy.
Four of the six employees at the American Army Navy store in East Charlotte are are veterans.
“We make it a priority for two reasons. Obviously to give them work that’s needed, and secondly, they’ve got an expertise that the average citizen doesn’t have,” said Wyer.
In North Carolina, veterans make up 10.6 percent of the state population. Across the board, 6.2 percent of those veterans are unemployed. For post-9/11 veterans, the employment is a little higher at 6.5 percent.
“Since only one percent of the population agrees to put their life on the line to defend our country, we feel like the employment rate for those folks ought to be zero,” said Lance Walker, managing editor of HireOurHeroes.us.
HireOurHeroes.us is a national job board used by more than 40,000 vets a month. Walker says many people have a distorted reality of vets looking for work.
“The homeless, helpless vet who should be pitied and then there’s the Rambo PTSD vet who should be feared. But those only represent less than 10 percent of the veteran population,” said Walker.
A new federal mandate could make it harder for veterans to find jobs. Now, local employment representatives no longer will act as personal caseworkers for veterans seeking work. That’s according to a new directive issued by the U.S. Department of Labor in April.
Families across our area, who are remembering family members who served, want local corporations to make greater efforts to get our local vets back to work.
“I think we need to do more for them. They’re dedicated people,” said Ray Beatty, a South Charlotte resident.
President Obama spoke about hiring vets in his address to soldiers in Afghanistan on Sunday.
“Making sure the post-9/11 G.I. Bill is in place, and delivering for you the kind of education that you deserve, that will keep America strong. And I keep on saying to everyone coming back home, if you want someone who knows how to get the job done, hire a vet,” said Obama.
The Obama administration just launched a new online veterans employment center. The site is a one-stop-shop connecting veterans, transitioning service members, and their spouses to employers.
