Granted, it's a multi-tiered challenge and entails more than finding veterans good jobs to help them lead healthy and productive lives. Advances in science and medical technology save many more battlefield lives than ever before, but it's something of a mixed blessing. Soldiers return home with catastrophic physical and psychological wounds that might well have taken their lives in another era.

A recent study done at Brown University discusses issues of "alienation" and loss of identity that go beyond common diagnoses of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health disabilities (see this article from Brown University's website for more on this topic).

Returning Sons/Fathers... and Mothers/Daughters

In the absence of conscription in the post-9/11 era, men and women in all four divisions of the military have had no choice but to serve multiple tours of duty, which greatly raised the odds of incurring battlefield scars.

Female soldiers, now serving in the armed forces in record numbers (approximately 20% of our military forces), are returning from overseas with a number of issues that weren't on the radar in all-male platoons–including incidents of sexual abuse. Women also account for a disproportionate number of homeless veterans (see attached write-up from IVN for an eye-opening report issued recently by Disabled American Veterans).

The beleaguered Veterans Administration (not helped by last year's government shutdown and subsequent implementation of budget sequestration) has been overwhelmed as it attempts to provide returning veterans with needed services since the latest conflicts began in the early-2000's. The agency's problems have been highly publicized in the media, culminating in the resignation of VA head (ret.) General Eric Shinseki last year.

First Lady Michelle Obama has made providing needed assistance and services to returning veterans and their families a priority of her own, but more needs to be done on a national level. Somehow, hundreds of thousands of G.I.'s returning from service overseas after World War II were able to benefit from G.I. bills that provided them access to college education and an affordable mortgage with which to buy a home.

For whatever political reasons, aiding veterans doesn't appear to be on the front burner of either the current Congress or the one that will assume office in January. President Obama and his administration's priorities appear to lie elsewhere as well.

What Can We Do to Help?

As HR professionals, we can do our part. A recent article from the Phoenix Business Journal provides some handy reminders of policies our organizations need to be in compliance with:

• Leave of Absence – the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act provides detailed guidelines for providing "reasonable accommodations" to employees who need to miss work due to military service; as well as about rehiring the employees and discharging them, should it become necessary.
• Accommodating Disabilities – the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits companies with 15 or more employees (in both the private and public sectors) from discriminating against veterans with disabilities in hiring and employment decisions. It also calls for "reasonable accommodations" to allow disabled employees to get the medical help they need, including for physical as well as mental conditions, including PTSD.
• FMLA – the Family Medical Leave Act has recently been expanded to allow "military caregiver" leave to close families members of recent veterans who have sustained serious injuries or illnesses while on active duty.

"Don't Forget: Hire the Vet"

That was a well-known refrain from a public-service advertising campaign in the post-Vietnam era-–the last time the U.S. saw high numbers of veterans returning from active duty. Those were very different times and economic conditions, but today's veterans need jobs as much they did 40 years ago.

Even though the U.S. economy is not yet back to pre-recession performance or at full employment, it's trending in a positive direction, with more and more jobs added each month. There are many compelling reasons to hire returning veterans, as these men and women have honed skills such as leadership, discipline, determination and teamwork–in many cases under extreme duress and adverse circumstances (See this post from vetjobs.com for a longer list of the advantages to "hiring the vet," including tax credits, government-paid relocation assistance and education benefits, as well as pre-screened security clearances, in many cases.)

Yes, there are many ways we in corporate America can reach out to our veterans who have served us and our country so honorably. In addition to all of the above reasons to lend them a hand, maybe thinking about giving a returning soldier a break this Veterans Day can make us all feel a little better about the way we do our jobs.