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Jobs for Veterans: You’re Welcome, America, Now Hire Us

After serving their country with honor, courage, and skill, too many veterans are struggling to find jobs. To prove the point, meet five who are determined to make it—their success will be ours as well.

By Gary Sledge from Reader's Digest Magazine | June 2012
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Tamara Reynolds
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Eric Smith: The Corpsman

Age 27
Navy, 6 Years
Petty Officer 3rd Class

You might have overlooked the man in the blue service uniform quietly mopping floors at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore last year. But not so long ago, Eric Smith was wearing military garb and performing emergency medical procedures on wounded soldiers in Iraq. Read his story »

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Tamara Reynolds
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Andrea Gillotte: The Journalist

Age 31
Navy, 8 years
Petty Officer 2nd Class

Growing up in a small town outside Nashville, Andrea Gillotte longed to be like the female anchor on local TV news: beautiful, poised and sophisticated—all the qualities she strived for. Gillotte's home life had been chaotic. Her parents, both drinkers, divorced when she was two. It wasn't until her grandmother gained custody of Gillotte at 14 that she began to hope she might make something of herself. Read her story »

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Tamara Reynolds
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Mark Haake: The Aviation Tech

Age 24
Marines, 5 years
Corporal

Mark Haake was exhilarated in February as he stood atop the huge hangarlike fleet maintenance building of the city of Columbus, Ohio. He had just been hired by Tipping Point, a solar panel installation company, to help install 2,800 energy-saving panels on the structure. As he surveyed the sky-high job site, he felt, for the first time since he’d left the Marines, that he had a future. Read his story »

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Tamara Reynolds
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Donna Bachler: The Administrator

Age 31
Army, 12 years
First Lieutenant

Donna Bachler’s brother Darrin Edward Rossi, private first class, U.S. Army, lies in a military cemetery in New Jersey. A victim of what Bachler calls the “invisible wounds” of war, Rossi, at age 33, took his life in 2005 while struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Bachler bears similar wounds. Read her story »

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Tamara Reynolds
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Andrew Steiner: The Squad Leader

Age 29
Marines, 4 years
Corporal

 When a mortar shell exploded inside the tent of his forward operating base in Iraq, Andrew Steiner and 15 other Marines were wounded. Steiner, who received the Purple Heart Medal, still carries shrapnel in his right hand from that 2005 attack, which ended his second tour of duty. Read his story »

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Your Comments

  • MarineVeteran

    Donna Bachler …  Seriously???  Kuwait is like a vacation compared to Iraq or Afghanistan.  There is no one getting shot at in Kuwait.  You sprained your ankle and you are suffering from PTSD?  Wow.  Get real.  Stop milking the government and the American people for money because of your “PTSD” caused by a sprained ankle.  Yeah you had to get surgey… so do kids who sprain their ankle or break their arm or leg.  Athletes have surgery all the time.  No one gets PTSD from surgery.  No wonder no employer wants to touch you.  I wouldn’t either.

  • Kaippers

    In 1973 I left the military and entered the civilian job market and on my first job interview I presented my 20 Ton Crane Operator Certificate and the interviewer burst out laughing and informed me that any training by the military was not recognized in the civilian world.  I would think by now that there would be a standardization of training and certification.  And yet Senators want to spend millions to retrain the work force and millions are spent training our military personal and their skills  are not transferable. 

    • Abrem

      I wonder why some have that mentality? If the civilian world had any idea of the motivation, dedication to the mission, easily adapt to just about anything, and loyalty most veterans provide, they’d be hired no questions asked. 

  • http://twitter.com/eagle2758 George Washington

    MarineVet – since when did you become a doctor? Screw you a-hole, grow up.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/2V52JPRBMDABOXBPR7QBLHN7JY Bitter Beer Man

    Scroo the vets, nobody made them enlist. They joined because they are too dumb or ignorant to get a real job, so they enlist, serve a few years, and then want the taxpayers to coddle them for the rest of their lives. Forget it, get a job and quit begging.

    • Agg

      People join to make their lives better or create better circumstances for themselves that would otherwise not be possible. Six years is not a few and the majority are not beggars.

  • Neitty

    Are you looking to work from home or you have friends who need additional income. I have tried it and its awesome…so i want others to benefit from it….for more info informations.careers@gmail.com