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Iraq Vets Hit by Financial Woes

Disabled veterans struggle to find jobs, keep homes

By Sarah Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 18, 2008 9:29 AM CST

(Newser) – Many soldiers returning from Iraq are finding themselves up against a new enemy: their finances. Unemployment, lack of credit, and foreclosures all seem to be hitting veterans harder than the average citizen, the New York Times reports. "You fill out a job application and you can’t write ‘long-range reconnaissance and sniper skills,' " says one vet who delivered pizza for a year while looking desperately for a better paying job.

Those wounded in action have it hardest, the New York Times reports, as they wait for months for disability checks and struggle to land jobs. There's no data on military foreclosures, but the VA says requests for financial help have "gone almost straight up this year." And a 2007 study shows that the jobless rate for combat vets dwarfs the US average. So what's the government doing about it? Two new bills aim to help veterans keep their homes, but aid is short-term and unlikely to save those already struggling.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

A soldier walks with his children after a homecoming ceremony June 2, 2008, in Fort Stewart, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Pfc. Zachary Porterfield stands with his parents, Cindy Werner and Gordon Porterfield, at a ceremony for 1st Cavalry Division soldiers returning from Iraq to Fort Hood, Texas, Jan. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/ Killeen Daily Herald, John A. Bowersmith)

President Bush visits with Army Sgt. Pengchun Pech of Lynne, Mass., Sept. 9, 2008, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where the Pech is recovering from wounds received in Operation Iraqi Freedom. (AP Photo/The White House, Eric Draper)

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You fill out a job application and you can’t write ‘long-range reconnaissance and sniper skills.’
- Andrew Spurlock, who delivered pizza for a year before finding a job as a construction supervisor.

The wife drops everything to be by his bedside. She stays at the nearest hotel to make sure he is alive. They live that way for months. She either has to quit her job or she is fired. This bankrupts people. - Meredith Leyva,
founder of Operation Homefront

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Iraq Vets Hit by Financial Woes