Heed President Obama’s call; honor, help nation’s veterans

Honor. Duty. Country.

Members of America’s armed forces have embodied those overarching allegiances for more than two centuries now. Those loyalties have molded this nation’s soldiers into a prolific fighting force, keenly adept at securing freedom and fortifying freedom in our homeland and around the world.

Appropriately enough, President Barack Obama highlighted the selflessness, sacrifice and noble ideals of America’s current and former servicemen and women in his 2014 Veterans Day message to the nation. He also urged Americans from all walks of life to show our soldiers and veterans the respect and gratitude that they have earned and to do all possible to minimize the pain many still sadly endure.

Specifically, Obama urged the nation to work toward increasing job opportunities and decreasing homelessness among veterans. We should follow the commander-in-chief’s marching orders in lockstep formation.

To this nation’s credit, recent initiatives, policies and projects suggest that our far too often underrecognized military veterans are finally getting the broader respect and support they are owed. Examples of such heightened reverence abound.

In the Mahoning Valley, Youngstown State University this fall dedicated its new $1.3 million 600,000-square-foot Veterans Resource Center, a beautiful edifice enriching the Wick Avenue corridor. The center makes YSU the only university in Ohio with a building solely dedicated to veteran students. It will offer an array of valuable services to student veterans, such as resume writing, job-interview techniques, mental health care and veterans’ benefits.

At the state level, Gov. John Kasich issued an executive order earlier this year that requires public universities and state-run boards issuing occupational licenses to take into account a veteran’s military education, skills training and service time and then award appropriate credits for them. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has spearheaded more stringent punishment for those who conduct identity fraud against military personnel, and he is currently fighting tooth and nail to bring those who engage in charity scams against veterans to harsh justice.

At the national level, Americans’ attention was glued through the first half of this year to alarming reports of disgustingly long waiting periods for veterans to receive treatment at VA facilities. Too often, seedy shenanigans led to worsening health — and even death — of veterans. In recent months, investigations, shakedowns, new top brass and more transparent accounting practices have mopped up much of the mess. An action plan implemented in August has reduced patient wait times 57 percent and strict new accounting procedures make patients — not the VA image — the department’s top priority.

But despite such progress, clearly much of the debt we owe veterans remains unpaid. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than 57,800 veterans, including 1,212 in Ohio, wandered the streets or languished in temporary shelters in 2013. Joblessness haunts veterans disproportionately as well. According to the Joint Economic Report to Congress issued last month, about 12 percent of veterans from the post-9/11 era suffer unemployment, more than twice the 5.8 percent overall jobless rate. That’s why public- and private-sector employers and educational institutions must keep a strong focus on job training, apprenticeships and higher-education credits tailor-made for veterans.

In broader measures, all Americans should recommit themselves to duty, honor and country by working to reward this nation’s military heroes with the dignity, security and assistance they so richly deserve.