Back from Iraq, finding work can be difficult

[NVMojo]

Welcome home, soldiers! This time you won't get spit upon but ...you may be jobless, homeless, broke!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly every day he was in Iraq, Staff Sgt. Steven Cummings heard mortar rounds so loud that even now he drops to the ground at the crackle of lightning.

In Milan, Mich., Cummings' wife took out two mortgages and the couple went $15,000 in debt during his 14 months overseas, because his salary was less than he was making as a civilian electrical controls engineer.

Looking back, those almost seem like the good times.

In the year since he's been home, Cummings has been laid off from two jobs. While other reasons were given for the layoffs, Cummings thinks both were related to his duty in the Michigan National Guard and the time off it requires.

Like some other veterans who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq, he is struggling to find work.

"I don't know what I'm going to do now. I'm in the exact position I was when I came back from Iraq," said Cummings, a father of two. "I'm 50 years old and I have a mortgage payment due. I'm tired of it."

more....


http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw116431_20050528.htm

[MissMarple]

1. So...where are all the "Support Our Troops" people?

This war and the sacrifices our soldiers are making mean absolutely NOTHING to most Americans. This is a TV event. It's all about the Limbaugh effect. And, they just don't care all that much.

[gorbal]

2. Another story

Here is yet another story about a vet and his family in Pliladelphia-

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/11748734.htm

And here is how you can help-

http://www.kwru.org/updates/2005/5-24-05.htm