Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks a decade ago, some 2.3 million military members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands more continue to deploy leaving their families at home while they serve our country overseas.

But when these brave men and women return home, many face a new enemy: unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was 12.4 percent in July, up from 11.8 percent in July 2010. In August, the jobless rate for these veterans had dropped slightly to 9.8 percent, but it does not include veterans who are underemployed or have stopped looking for work.

The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that of those veterans employed since leaving the military, 25 percent earn less than $21,840 a year.  On any given day, as many as 250,000 veterans (male and female) are living on the streets or in shelters, and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year.

James Gilbert, director of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council  says:

It is a shame that those who served their country, many more than once, come home only to end up on the streets without a job, a home or hope. We can and should do better.

According to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Michigan has the highest jobless rate for Iraq-Afghanistan veterans—a whopping 29.4 percent without a job (See map above). Indiana, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee all have rates of 20 percent or higher.       

Last month, President Obama announced his New Veterans’ Employment Initiative aimed at putting our country’s veterans back to work. He proposed new Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior tax credits that would give employers a financial incentive to hire veterans.

Obama pledged to help veterans transition from combat to career by refining and enhancing career development programs at local One-Stop Career Centers.

Gilbert adds:

The president’s plan is a start but the best way to combat high unemployment among veterans is to invest in country’s infrastructure and in a future where American manufacturing is strong.