Happy Veterans Day to all! Today I will be celebrating at an event at a local VFW discussing veterans' education benefits with anyone who will listen. 

Here's a unique take from a Huffington Post contributor about a way people could connect with veterans on this special day and beyond.  It deals with the dilemma of veteran re-entry into civilian life.  It's certainly noteworthy that the unemployment rate for veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is high (though part of this may be attributed, thankfully, to taking advantage of the education benefits afforded to them), and the issue of returning from the unbridled chaos of the desert battlefields to life back home in our fragile economy can lead to frustration among our veterans.  It's easy for me to say as an author preaching education that the easiest thing to do is to go to school, but sometimes that's not the easiest thing for the individual.  There are issues ranging from basic fear of returning to a classroom after half a lifetime away from it, to the ravages of PTSD and IED injuries making the return an even more daunting task.  The thought here is that helping a veteran by offering your time to one can make the difference, make the transition to the classroom that much easier.  Maybe at the collegiate level, students could take part in a veteran student orientation day to help them adjust to life at school.  This article here takes that approach to a much larger level and reminds the readers that, in a way, veterans are our one of our nation's most important resources.  The author's call to arms of civilians to do their part to recognize and help--particularly young civilians--truly made this veteran's day!

In our own endeavors to help veterans, Ed and I as most of you know will be donating 15% of the proceeds from each book sold through our website to the Wounded Warrior Project.  I will be discussing our involvement in a future blog.  Please visit the link here for further details about this amazing organization. 

Here's a favorite picture of mine from my old unit, B-Co 143rd Forward Support Battalion.  I'm about in the dead center in back of the unit flag.  Best wishes to all my friends in this picture, particularly those still fighting to keep us safe. 

I thought about some of my favorite songs to share loosely relating to the military.  There's a ton of them, and I'll share them in future posts.  Here's one from Johnny Cash that about sums up what our men and women who serve seem to do best even under the toughest of circumstances.