This post originally appeared on the Ohio AFL-CIO blog.

More than 20 union veterans and members representing each branch of the military, along with the group Veterans Helping Veterans & Others Inc., met near the Ohio Statehouse today before heading out to meet with 10 senators to discuss gaining support for Senate Bill 13 (S.B. 13), the Veteran Opportunities Act, sponsored by Lou Gentile (D-Steubenville).

Update: Ohio Gov. John Kasich issued an order to state agencies they must consider veterans' military skills and service for civilian job licensing and college credits.

Standing at the center of the “Honoring All Veterans Memorial” that was dedicated Monday in Richfield, Minn., is a bronze statue of longtime Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 292 member and World War II veteran Chuck Lindberg, who raised the first U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945.

Most of us know the iconic image captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal that was recreated for the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va. But earlier that day Lindberg and several other Marines, after four days of bloody combat, were the first patrol to make it to the top of Mount Suribachi.

James Gilbert is director of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council.

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. Many Americans will enjoy a day off with family and friends, perhaps at a barbecue or baseball game. Those times and the memories that are created are precious and should be celebrated. Since 1868, this holiday has served as a moment when Americans remember the men and women of the military who lost their lives to preserve our freedom.

In that spirit, I ask that you take time this weekend to do something with your family to pass along the tradition of remembrance. All across the country, there will be ceremonies at many of the 131 Department of Veterans Affairs cemeteries. The National Cemetery Administration honors veterans with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service to our nation. To find out where and when a wreath-laying is happening in your area, go to the National Cemetery Administration’s website.

Last week, Walmart said it would speed up its plan to hire returning military veterans that it had announced in January. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says Walmart’s latest move “is more about public relations than honoring our heroes.”

We owe it to our returning veterans to make sure they are treated as the heroes they are, rather than as symbols used to ‘greenwash’ Walmart’s eroding brand. After facing enemies abroad, is an $8.81 an hour part-time job the best we can offer returning veterans?

Today’s military veterans face one of the toughest job markets in decades, and their unemployment rate is significantly higher than the population at large. But thanks to the Helmets to Hardhats program, which connects veterans with quality career training and employment opportunities within the building and construction industry, many veterans are now on ascending career paths.

A recent Philadelphia Inquirer feature focuses on two U.S. Marine Corps veterans who are putting to work the training and opportunities provided by Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Local 19 in South Philadelphia.

Ten years ago this week, the United States launched the invasion of Iraq. The nation remains divided on the wisdom, strategy and outcome of the war that claimed the lives of 4,488 U.S. service members and left more than 32,000 wounded.  

But there is one certainty—the men and women who honorably fought and served in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade have come home to an economy that works even less for them than it does others. Job loss, stagnant wages and a widening gap between working families and the wealthy and Wall Street are some of these problems.  

The wrong way to greet our military veterans as they return to civilian life after defending the nation would be offering an $8.81 an hour part-time job with little to no benefits.

Walmart CEO Bill Simon said this morning at the National Retail Federation conference that starting Memorial Day, Walmart would offer honorably discharged veterans jobs. Simon pledges to hire 100,000 vets over the next five years. Right now, it's unclear if these Walmart jobs would be full-time or offer adequate benefits. 

Beware the "chained" CPI.

As Republicans in Congress take a hard line in the sand against higher tax rates for millionaires and billionaires, they are demanding a Social Security benefit cut through a lower Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs). The lower COLA would result from the adoption of a new formula for calculating COLAs called "Chained CPI." 

A proposed bill in Ohio would require a court to consider a person's military service when sentencing for misdemeanor or felony charges, the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council in Ohio reports. A judge would have to take into account whether the offender has an emotional, mental or physical condition that can be traced to military service that contributed to the commission of the crime. 

The bipartisan bill, S.B. 330, proposed by state Sen. Joe Schiavoni (D-Boardman), passed in the state Senate 33-0. S.B. 330 will go to the Ohio House to be voted on before the end of the lame-duck legislative session. 

More than 10,000 Angelenos, including members of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor’s “Team Homeless Heroes,” took part in the United Way’s 2012 HomeWalk 5K Run/Walk Nov. 17 to raise funds to combat homelessness in the Los Angeles area. The more than 500 members of Team Homeless Heroes are from Los Angeles unions and the team is organized by the L.A. Fed’s AFL-CIO Community Services/United Way partnership. It focuses on the men and women who served our country and who are now facing homelessness.