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Main Street Connect-Mass. accepts signed letters to the editor. Letters may be emailed to jpaluzzi@mainstreetconnect.us.
As the wife of a Navy man you get used to the military becoming a priority in your life, but never was that more true than when my husband Josh went on a nine month deployment to Iraq.
While a soldier may make the military a priority, the Navy does not always do the same for their men and women in uniform as was evidenced when he came home this past December.
It's amazing how much training and preparation goes into sending a soldier to war. Yet when they come home there is nothing done to help them. Luckily my husband didn't see any action while in Iraq, so his mental state is great, and our relationship got better with him away (we are expecting our third child!), but financially we are set adrift.
The job my husband held before deployment was held for him while he was away because it is required by law for the company to do so. But when he returned, the job in Boston had changed so much, and his pay had been cut so drastically, that it did not make sense for him to continue working there. He had to drive three hours a day to this job, while paying for gas, tolls and parking. So he left after two weeks.
Even though he was almost forced out of his job, he is ineligible for unemployment since he technically quit. So while we run through our savings just paying our bills, my husband is desperately trying to look for a job so he can provide for his family—which has NOT been easy.
In an attempt to bring some money in, my husband decided to complete his college degree by using the GI Bill. We are supposed to get a monthly stipend while he is going to school, yet after a month of classes we have yet to see a dime.
My husband isn't the only soldier who comes home from deployment to an entirely different world. His brother is also in the Navy stationed in Mississippi. He has been in active duty service for 10 years, been on multiple deployments—including being in the first wave of soldiers who went to Iraq when the war started, seeing horrible atrocities in Afghanistan, and helping clean up Japan after the tsunami. He has earned numerous medals and awards, yet when he returned from his most recent deployment in November he was told he was "no longer needed" in the military and essentially given his pink slip. This man, who was an exemplary soldier and had planned to retire from the military he loves, was left to find a new job in the civilian world for the first time in his life.
Please don't take this as a blast on the military—I love my country, my husband and his duty to the Navy. But it is shocking how soldiers who come home from war have no support or preparation to return to "the real world."
It's easy for people to say they support our troops when they are far away by sending packages and tying a yellow ribbon around the tree. But it is really difficult to be honored and applauded while at war, yet totally ignored when you get home.
Karen Gibson
A Military Wife from Northbridge
Comments (6)
I found out from someone working at the career center for unemployment that an employment counselor is available to talk to vets about job and education opportunities. Please go to www.detma.org to find the career center closet to you.
Dear Mrs. Gibson:
Thank you for writing this letter. I am the wife of a Coast Guard member who has done many ship deployments including some overseas (not Iraq/Afghanistan though). I completely understand your frustration with the lack of recognition by some folks of the sacrifices that the families of military members make. However over the years I have also met people who have gone above and beyond in kindness during periods when my husband ship was underway. For example, several years ago a complete stranger at the Holden Spa paid for my daughter's and my breakfast, unsolicited by me, after he overheard my daughters and I talking about 'daddy being gone'. The generosity was something I will never forget and I vowed then to pay it forward (and I have done so).
Also, if you aren't already familiar with them there are financial resources available for returning servicemembers. I am an accredited financial counselor and I have been specifically helping military families with their personal finances for the past two years. If youy have athe need into thisthe area II would be happy to offer my services to you at no cost. Dan Castro knows how to contact me if you are interested.
I am so sorry for your troubles. As a Navy Mom, I am so proud of my son, but dissapointed in the military. While they speak of the code of honor, sometimes it is hard to find this same honor in the military's treatment of their own. I thank you for your letters, and making the problems public. These soldiers are being asked to sacrifice for all of us, I'm sure no one wants to see them treated so badly. I have heard of the many cut backs as well. Particularly those closing in on retirement, and it is shameful. I hope everything works out and your husband can continue getting his degree, and acquire a position in a company that will respect and appreciate him. We certainly his service.
Karen -- I am so sorry your family is going through this. The 9/11 GI Bill does take a few months to process with the VA, so you should be seeing that money this month sometime. Did your husband contact the state AG's office? The company your husband worked for has to demonstrate several things prior to demoting him (which the cut in pay basically did), such as showing there was no equivalent position in the company, and every effort was made to retrain him for a job that would be equivalent in pay and seniority.
From the AG's website:
Home Consumer Resources Your Rights Veterans' Resources Employment Rights for Veterans
Uniform Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act
Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) requires employers to re-employ returning service members in the job they would have had if they had never left for military service, including any pay or salary increases, seniority, or other benefits the service member would have received. Employers are required to make reasonable attempts to train returning service members in any skills required for re-employment, and must make reasonable accommodations to disabled veterans.
USERRA also protects a service member's right to participate in employer-sponsored health and pension plans. Individuals performing military duty of more than 30 days may elect to continue employer sponsored health care for up to 24 months; however, they may be required to pay up to 102 percent of the full premium. For military service of less than 31 days, health care coverage is provided as if the service member had remained employed. An employer who re-employs a service member must count the period of his or her military service toward the time required to earn benefits under an employee pension and benefit plan.
To be eligible for these benefits the service member must:
Provide his or her employer with advance written or verbal notice of his or her military service;
Have five years or less of cumulative military service while with that particular employer. There are important exceptions to the five-year limit, including initial enlistments lasting more than five years, periodic National Guard and Reserve training duty, and involuntary active duty extensions and recalls, especially during a time of national emergency;
Return to work or apply for reemployment in a timely manner after conclusion of service; and
Not be separated from service with a disqualifying discharge or under other than honorable conditions.
The U.S. Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) is authorized to investigate and resolve complaints of USERRA violations. For assistance in filing a complaint, or for any other information about USERRA, contact the U.S. Department of Labor, VETS (DOL) at 1-866-4-USA-DOL.
Definitely contact the AG's office to receive direction on how to proceed (if this is a non-government employer they would be involved also). Thank you to your husband for his service to our country.
- Julie Kelley
Karen,
I am a Former Marine who had the same thing happen. I went back to school to finish my education( I left school in 2003 in order to fight for my country as a marine infantryman). I did not receive any money from the GI bill for the first three months. When i called to complain for the 20th time about how I was supposed to pay bills the rude &%$ on the line told me to get a job and hung up the phone on me. No one will ever understand how bad it is unless they are actually in the military themselves. Remember "The military is at war, America is at the mall."
On another note Massachusetts offers a welcome home bonus. I dont know if you have already received this but they do process it quickly and it is 1000 dollars tax free. I hope everything works out. It usually does.
-Semper Fidelis
-USMC
'Welcome Home & Thank You'
First I wish to say 'Welcome Home' and 'Thank You' to your Husband and your entire family. Most American's understand that the Military their Family's and Veterans, close to almost 1% of our present American Society have been carrying most or all of the water for the rest of the Country during the long duration of the present two Wars.
Your situation is similar to a lot of past Veterans situation's when the U.S., starts to down size after a War or Conflict. Your letter reminds me of my brothers situation when he returned from America's last chapter of the Vietnam War. I remember he sought assistance, and guidance from the local City, State, or Town Veterans Agent Office. Plus assistance from the Community Service Office, at Hanscom AFB, Fort Devens, and US Army Natick Labs on how to formulate the complex Federal Employment Application process. Plus he did his research on those Company's that were also Veteran friendly in Employment Opportunity's. This may be a little bit easier now with the advent of the Internet. I think I recently saw a news Article where GE was planning to hire five to six thousand returning Veterans.
After a few months of up's and downs, he received an excellent career opportunity.