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Thursday, November 03, 2011

Obviously veterans of military service are not monolithic, and represent a range of opinion. As with any segment of society. However, this is interesting.

Part of the nation's younger population are the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans not continuing in the military, who then face integration into civilian society.

Strib carries this AP report:

US military veterans heed Occupy rallying cry, marching on Wall Street in uniform

Article by: VERENA DOBNIK , Associated Press
Updated: November 3, 2011 - 6:02 AM


NEW YORK - Thousands of U.S. military veterans are heeding the rallying cry of Occupy Wall Street, saying corporate contractors in Iraq made big money while the troops defending them came home — and can't make a living now.

"For too long, our voices have been silenced, suppressed and ignored in favor of the voices of Wall Street and the banks and the corporations," said Joseph Carter, a 27-year-old Iraq war veteran who marched Wednesday to Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the movement that has spread worldwide.

The former Army sergeant from Seattle spoke to fellow Occupy protesters and passersby on Broadway after joining about 100 veterans marching in uniform from the Vietnam Veterans Plaza through Manhattan's financial district nearby.

Their unemployment rate outstrips the national average and is expected to worsen. They worry about preservation of First Amendment rights. And they're angry.

A week before Veterans Day, generations of former U.S. military men and women threw their considerable weight behind the Occupy movement born in mid-September when about 100 protesters also marched in the Wall Street area.

"For 10 years, we have been fighting wars that have enriched the wealthiest 1 percent, decimated our economy and left our nation with a generation of traumatized and wounded veterans that will require care for years to come," said Carter, who leads the national Iraq Veterans Against the War group.

Requiring care now in California is a former Marine whose skull was fractured last week when he was injured by a projectile at an Occupy Oakland rally. Police there are now the subject of a formal investigation by the city's Citizens' Police Review Board.

In New York on Wednesday, police circled the veterans as they stood in formation in front of the New York Stock Exchange, chanting, "We are veterans! We are the 99 percent!" and "Corporate profits on the rise, soldiers have to bleed and die!"

By the stock exchange, Josh Shepherd, a former Navy petty officer 2nd class who was next to Olsen when he was injured, read the oath members of the armed forces take to defend the U.S. Constitution.

"We are here to support the Occupy Wall Street movement," he then declared.

Police officers on scooters separated the veterans from the entrance to the stock exchange. On the other side of the marchers was a lineup of NYPD horses carrying officers with nightsticks.

"We are marching to express support for our brother, Scott Olsen, who was injured in Oakland," former Army specialist Jerry Bordeleau told The Associated Press earlier.

[...]

Veteran unemployment is projected to worsen after 10,000 servicemen and servicewomen return from Afghanistan and 46,000 come home from Iraq by year's end — many wounded or suffering from mental trauma.

Bordeleau, who served in the military police, said his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder has made it impossible to pursue a career in civilian law enforcement, and that he's had a hard time finding jobs that pay more than $10 an hour. He has worked as a groundskeeper at a New York public park, while living on disability benefits.

"I can't really survive on that," he said.

[...]

The cowardly-anonymous Crabgrass blog troll left this comment for me, and for Mr Bordeleau:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I am astounded by the ignorance of some. With litt...":

So exactly why is your life a complete failure? Corporate greed? Anyone that is less then successful in this country is ether lazy or has a skull full of shit. You meet both descriptions! ..Earn it you god damn worthless pice of shit!

It bothers me that this individual has a vote, the equal of yours or mine. [S]he is part of the problem. Not any part of any cogent solution. Beyond that, proper grammar is, " ... anyone who ..." not "... anyone that ...".

.................................

To me it is a concern for us all when reporting is, "Veteran unemployment is projected to worsen after 10,000 servicemen and servicewomen return from Afghanistan and 46,000 come home from Iraq by year's end — many wounded or suffering from mental trauma."

And if you face a foreclosure, the blog troll has those very kind words for you, also.

Is [s]he a class warrior, fighting for the 1% (although likely quite distant from being near to being in the 1%)?

I suggest not a warrior, but a coward.

A coward spews such indecency, anonymously.

Cowardice is the earned characterization. The one that fits.


_______________UPDATE_______________

HufPo, here.

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/