Our Veterans answered America’s call.Now we must answer theirs.

Many Veterans were barely out of school when our country sent them—by air, sea, and ground—into jungles, deserts, cities, and combat zones, from Vietnam through the Gulf conflicts and the wars that followed. Our Veterans learned to move toward danger while others ran from it. Our Veterans endured incoming fire, explosions, terrible uncertainty, separation from family, and the loss of friends beside them.

Veterans also faced venomous snakes, alligators and crocodiles, disease-carrying insects, and other deadly hazards—dangers that took lives and left horrific memories of fellow service members dying for their country.

Many came home with permanently disfigured faces, severe burns, lost limbs, and invisible wounds—including post-traumatic stress, depression, and other mental-health conditions—that changed every part of life. They endured these sacrifices for all of us—for you, for me, and for America. We owe them more than words; we owe them the opportunity to heal, rebuild, and live with dignity.

Veterans carried the wounded. Veterans followed orders when fear said stop. Veterans learned how to survive in places most civilians will never see—and returned home carrying memories most civilians will never fully understand.

Then the mission ended, but the battle did not always end with it. Some came home to applause. Many came home to silence. Too many were expected to become civilians again almost overnight—with little help translating military skills into civilian jobs, navigating benefits, healing unseen wounds, or rebuilding family life.

So when someone asks, “Why doesn’t that Veteran just get a job?” the answer must begin with another question: What did we do to prepare that Veteran for the life we asked him or her to leave behind?