Blog Posts by Subject: Veterans

Thank you for your service. That phrase, the dust jacket; everyone can recognize immediately the title of this book is ironic. Or...is it?

Thank You for Your Service, the latest book from author David Finkel, is about the after-war. Everyone knows the wars: Iraq; Afghanistan. And we have all heard at least a little 

"Freedom is not free." —Walter Hithcock "In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." —Franklin D. Roosevelt

American freedom has been achieved and maintained due to the perseverance and sacrifice of our service men and women. Although we show our support by honoring those in service as well as veterans twice a year, on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, this does not fulfill their daily needs as they once 

Last Saturday, the NYC Veterans Oral History Project was on Staten Island for a morning of interviews with Korean War veterans. Several volunteers made it out to Staten Island to record these stories in the amazing Adult Learning Center at St. George Library.

Volunteer Tom Reichert Interviews Colonel Paul Dietrich"I'm doing this because sometimes the Korean War is left out of history classes. It's important for people of all generations to know what happened," said Dominick Conti, a Korean War 

Alexandria McIntosh tells Herbert Sweat her life story as Mr. Sweat practices his interviewing skills.Last Thursday, six new volunteer interviewers for the NYC Veterans Oral History Project met at Mid-Manhattan Library to learn about the project and discuss best practices. Several volunteers have family members who were in the military and plan to interview them so that their stories are preserved for future generations.

Alexandria McIntosh, entering the 11th grade this upcoming Fall, plans 

June is PTSD Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness of PTSD and its effective treatments so that everyone can help those affected. PTSD is an anxiety condition that can develop in response to exposure to an extreme traumatic event such as military combat, violent personal assaults, terrorist attacks, disasters or accidents. And while PTSD is not unique to veterans and military service members, it is often characterized as one of the "invisible wounds of war" and a "signature 

RecruitMilitary is a leading full-service military–to-civilian recruiting firm in the United States. They use online and offline products to connect employers, franchisors, and educational institutions with men and women who are transitioning from active duty to civilian life, veterans who already have civilian work experience, members of the National Guard and reserve forces, and military spouses. They serve veterans of all ranks, rates, and branches of the armed forces, and their services are free to all men and women who have a military 

How much do you know about World War II? The Korean War? The Vietnam War? Or what about Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom? What if you had the ability to listen to first-hand accounts about these wars from the men and women who served our country?

Well you're in luck because The New York Public Library is currently collecting oral histories of veterans in the New York City area. Once an interview is conducted, we put it on our website and then send a copy to the Library of Congress for their Veteran History 

Hiring Our Heroes, a program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, was launched in March 2011 as a nationwide initiative to help veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment working with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's network of 1600 state and local chambers and other strategic partners for the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Visit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation site to learn more.

The following information is from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation:

The Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, provides seamless transition for Servicemembers, expands education and training opportunities for Veterans and provides tax credits for employers who hire Veterans with service-connected disabilities.

Included in this new law is the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) which offers up to 12 months of training assistance to unemployed Veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are working together to roll out this new program on July 1, 

As over a million of service men and women are returning to the civilian workforce in the next five years, entrepreneurship may be an attractive option for some of them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Report on Veterans Small Business Development, veterans own 2.4 million American businesses or 9 percent of all the American's business. When including businesses in which veterans are at least half owners, these numbers rise to 3.7 million businesses or 13.5 percent of U.S. businesses.

The following information is excerpted from