Before Darrel Riley joined the Marines in 2005, he attended college for one semester and worked at Home Depot and in construction. Riley, now 28, was injured in an explosion in Iraq, and knew that his time in the infantry wouldn’t make him any more marketable than he was before he joined up. So, when Riley returned to Connecticut, he re-enrolled at Naugatauck Valley Community College, reasoning that “having a college degree is like a high school degree now.” But the Vernon resident had to stop classes to work — his $1,600 monthly disability payment isn’t enough to support himself and his 6-year-old son. The construction job he landed ended after just a few months.