“Service is embedded in their DNA”

| November 11, 2009

The Washington Times has an article this morning about a report of a survey from Civic Enterprises that advises local and national leaders to tap into the reservoir of talent in today’s returning veterans instead of looking at the veteran community as a burden and damaged goods;

The results of the survey, being released Wednesday, show that 90 percent of returning veterans want to continue to serve their communities in some capacity.

“The public perception is that they are damaged in some way when they come back,” said John Marshall Bridgeland, chief executive of Civic Enterprises. “They view veterans as already having served their country and think they should be left alone because they have given the ultimate sacrifice, risked their lives, and that their service is done.

“But what this survey shows is that service is embedded in their DNA,” Mr. Bridgeland said. “They believe they have a lot to teach, especially to young people.”

Although 89 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans agreed that other Americans could learn from their service, only 44 percent said they consider themselves leaders in their communities.

Nearly 70 percent said they have not been contacted by a community group or place of worship, while 54 percent said they were contacted by a veterans service organization. However, of those who did speak with veterans groups, only 21 percent were asked to serve their communities.

As one veteran in the survey said: “Recognize our usefulness. We are not charity cases. We are an American asset.”

Time reports from the same survey;

And not surprisingly, many people have found themselves trying to lend veterans a helping hand rather than asking for their help. While 7 out of 10 returning vets were offered a service from local do-gooders, only 1 in 5 was asked to serve. In particular, veterans say they are eager to serve by helping other veterans, aiding in disaster relief, helping the elderly and troubled kids and protecting the environment.

Not unsurprisingly, the Hollywood version of the returning veteran is wrong, just like it was wrong three decades ago. You can read the entire survey report (in .pdf) at Civic Enterprises, LLC.

Category: Military issues, Society

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B Woodman

There was a recent interview on Double Tapper blog site that touched on the same issue, but from the opposite side, about why Israel was so successful in business. Here’s the link, or copy-&-paste:

http://doubletapper.blogspot.com/2009/11/israels-success-interview.html

OldTrooper

I just want to send a “shout out” to all the Veterans that are here, today.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Contrary to some, I’m pretty sure that a majority of people haven’t forgotten about our men and women in uniform today. Of course, I’m not soliciticing donations, so my opinion might vary from others.

OldTrooper

One other thing. Bring your DD214 or ID in a Vets org, or your military ID, or anything that identifies you as a Vet or current Warrior, to Applebees today. The meal is on them.

Thank you Applebees.

Joe

In the interest of a little cross-pollination, there is an informative article in on HuffingtonPost.com entitled: “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Veterans (And How You Can Support Them)”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/11/5-facts-about-veterans-an_n_351065.html