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More help for vets

E-mail|Link|Comments () Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor November 9, 2009 06:10 PM

The White House today announced an effort to make the federal government the "model" employer of returning military veterans.

President Obama will be joined this evening by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry to sign an executive order that tells federal agencies the importance of recruiting and training veterans, aims to increase the employment of vets within the Executive Branch, and helps recently hired veterans adjust to service in a civilian capacity.

“Honoring our sacred trust with America’s veterans means doing all we can to help them find work when they come home so they never feel as if the American Dream they fought to defend is out of reach for them and their families,” Obama said in a statement. “But this initiative is about more than repaying our debt for their courageous service and selfless sacrifice. It’s also about continuing to fill the ranks of federal employees with men and women who possess the skills, dedication, and sense of duty that Americans deserve from their public servants. And few embody those qualities like our nation’s veterans.”

Locally, Senator Paul G. Kirk, Jr.'s office announced that on Veterans Day Wednesday, he will join Retired Army General Fred Franks, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, more than 200 volunteers walking from Massachusetts General Hospital to Fenway Park, and soldiers from Fort Devens and airmen from Hanscom Air Force Base to raise awareness for the Home Base Program.

The Home Base Program is an effort by the Boston Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital to give support and services to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. The program was started in September with the help of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whom Kirk replaced.

tags Afghanistan, Iraq, Obama, Paul Kirk, PTSD, veterans

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