Van Banner (Van, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 12, 2013 Page: 2 of 16
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Page 2A - Thursday, December 12, 2013 - VAN BANNER
Opinion & Commentary-
Our veterans need more than a day - they need a career
By Thomas A. Kennedy
America is home to 21.2
million veterans — men and
women who were willing to
risk their lives for our country.
Unfortunately, many of
these veterans face a daunting
personal battle here at home:
finding work. According to
the labor department, more
than 700,000 U.S. veterans
are currently unemployed.
This simply isn’t acceptable.
Our veterans have earned the
opportunity to earn a living and
take part in the very society
they fought to defend.
The most effective way to
help them succeed in post-
military life is through targeted
efforts to extend educational
opportunity.
Since the 2008 financial
crisis, competition for jobs
has become fierce. Positions
that once required a high
school degree or less are being
filled by college-educated
applicants. This development
presents a particular challenge
for former soldiers, airmen, and
sailors, many of whom enlisted
without much education or
civilian experience.
Moreover, unemployed vets
who find work typically take
43 weeks to land a job.
Joblessness is stressful for
all who have experienced it.
However, many veterans face
additional obstacles. At least 3
million were wounded in battle
and still suffer from some form
of disability. Among those who
served in Iraq or Afghanistan,
about 20 percent are living
with post-traumatic stress
disorder or major depression,
and one in three cope with a
serious psychological trauma.
All these stats are troubling
- and illustrate why Americans
must commit to making sure
veterans have the tools they
need to build successful post-
military lives.
The best place to start is
by broadening educational
opportunity for our veterans.
Indeed, education is often the
determining factor in whether
or not a veteran is able to thrive
after returning to civilian life.
One initiative has already
made important progress in
this respect. At the beginning
of this academic year, 250
community colleges and
universities committed to
implementing best practices
established by the Department
of Veterans Affairs, the
Department of Education,
and more than 100 educational
experts. These “Eight Keys to
Success” help connect veterans
with academic, career, and
financial help, and surround
them with a community of
students and fellow veterans
who can encourage them as
they further their education.
For similar efforts to grow
in number and effectiveness,
more Americans need to
get involved with private
initiatives like Student Veterans
of America and the Wounded
Warrior Project. These two
groups enable soldiers to draw
on the skills they have already
developed through military
service and apply them to their
post-military careers.
We should always welcome
opportunities to show our
appreciation for those veterans
who risked everything for our
safety and security. But these
brave men and women need
more than our appreciation;
they need our help. And,
more specifically, they need
more opportunities to arm
themselves with the skills to
create a prosperous, fulfilling
life.
Thomas A. Kennedy, PhD.,
is the executive vice president
and chief operating officer at
Raytheon. He served in the
U.S. Air Force from 1977 to
1983, attaining the rank of
captain.
rr Too atD To stokg the ueme. outside."
Letter to
the Editor
Policy
The Van Banner wel-
comes letters from its
readers on topics of local
public interest.
Letters must be no lon-
ger than 500 words max-
imum. Any portions of a
letter that are not suitable
for publication will be
removed.
Letters will be edited
for grammar, space and
legal concerns.
Letters must contain
the name, telephone
number and address of
the writer.
Letters may be sent
to Editor, Van Banner,
P.O. Box 577, Canton,
TX 75103, emailed to
editor @ vanzandtnews.
com or dropped off at the
office located at 103 E.
Tyler St., in downtown
Canton.
Are you leading a watered-down life?
There are many ways in which
technology has improved our lives.
E-mail allows us to keep in touch
with friends and family more readi-
ly than traditional mail. Cell phones
allow us to be reached almost
anywhere on the planet and are a
boon to both commerce and com-
munication.
With smart phones and i-Pads
we have a whole world of infor-
mation at our fingertips with just a
few keystrokes. But, the downside
to all of this technology is that it
tends to interfere with our face-to-
face interactions, watering down
our lives.
Consider how often we are try-
ing to have a heart-to-heart con-
versation and are interrupted by
the cell phone. Even worse is the
person who refuses to put down
their phone during a conversation,
insisting that they can attend to two
things at once.
Many people nowadays have
trouble focusing on one thing at a
time, no doubt in part because they
have grown up constantly multi-
tasking and never really having to
focus on just one thing.
The real downside to this is that
multi-taskers miss out on the expe-
rience of truly savoring life.
There are times when we
need to multi-task; the mother
cooking dinner and looking after
her children may not have the lux-
ury of doing just one thing. But,
there are other times when we re-
ally need to just do one thing, and
do it well, such as driving
car or having an important
conversation.
This article was
written by
Christopher Simon and
distributed by MetroCreative
Connections.
“You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed
— or indeed only one.”
Luke 10:41-42
Van Banner
Published By Van Zandt Newspapers, L.L.C..
Brad Blakemore —
Publisher
Editorial Staff
Advertising Staff
Donnita Fisher, Managing Editor
Kelli Baxter
editor @ vanzandtne w s .com
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Glenn McNeill Jr.
sports @ vanzandtnew s. com
Misty Stanberry
Britne Reeves, Staff Writer
bri tne @ vanzandtnew s. com
Barbara Robertson - Canton Guide
Office Staff
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Charlotte Jeane—Front Desk Lela De Leon — Graphic Artist Amanda Greene — Layout
Lori Davis — Layout Rachel DeLira — Typesetting Robin Campbell — Classifieds
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TU
MEMBER
2013
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
VAN BANNER
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Fisher, Donnita. Van Banner (Van, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 12, 2013, newspaper, December 12, 2013; Wills Point, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth832501/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Van Zandt County Library.