Unemployment, Homelessness Hit Veterans after Return from Conflict – (Free Speech Radio News – November 11, 2011)
An estimated 240,000 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are unemployed. Thousands more will be returning home in the coming months to a struggling economy. Without steady income, some vets will find themselves without stable housing. As Congress tries to make it easier for veterans to get hired, a new report paints a troubling picture of the nation’s homeless vets. (Article is a 4.16 minute MP3 file which can be heard online or downloaded.)

Veterans Heeding Occupy Call to March – (Military.com – November 3, 2011)
Thousands of U.S. military veterans are heeding the rallying cry of Occupy Wall Street, saying corporate contractors in Iraq made big money while the troops defending them came home – and can’t make a living now. Their unemployment rate outstrips the national average and is expected to worsen. They worry about preservation of First Amendment rights. And they’re angry. “For 10 years, we have been fighting wars that have enriched the wealthiest 1 percent, decimated our economy and left our nation with a generation of traumatized and wounded veterans that will require care for years to come,” said Carter, who leads the national Iraq Veterans Against the War group. ma