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Veterans for Education, which shows 524 supporters on its facebook organizing page, is announcing that both Gov. Jon Corzine and Chris Christie have agreed to participate in a panel discussion on vets issues.
Vets for Education, started by Iraq and Afghanistan War vets, is the first campus-based veterans organization in the state. Its president is 24-year-old Bryan Adams, Purple Heart recipient and a man who knows first-hand the effects of PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - on many returning vets. He is also the face of an Addy Award-winning tv spot for IAVA - Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Veterans for Education has a history sponsoring face-to-face events; they hosted the first debate between John Adler and Chris Myers last year.
I'm glad to see this organization feel its power. They understand that educational opportunity is a key right that we owe our vets, and they advocate with institutions of higher learning to make it as easy as possible for soldiers to participate in distance learning like college correspondence courses, and online coursework in degree fields related to their occupational specialty.
Corzine agreed to the panel discussion at a ceremony this weekend where he signed into law that state and official US flags be made in America. Christie had already agreed.
Date and location are still TBA for the Corzine/Christie matchup. But Veterans for Education says questions will center on issues important to Iraq and Afghanistan vets, including a 14% unemployment rate, and the fact that vets of those wars are becoming homeless at a much faster rate than any other conflict.
You can join Veterans for Education here. They are non-partisan. But any group that advocates for opportunity for veterans, and their education, is progressive, the way I see it.
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