Foreclosures Mock the Sacrifices of New Veterans

November 24th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosures

In the brouhaha of the rescue packages and tears for Wall Street is the neglected story of those who are returning disabled or injured from the battlegrounds of Iraq or Afghanistan. There are American troops with the UN peacekeeping force in Africa also. Far from being given a hero’s welcome back home they have to suffer waiting months to get benefits from disablement. This means they find it difficult to get suitable jobs and that in turn translates into danger from foreclosure. It is as if foreclosures are mocking the sacrifices of new veterans.

Recently the Congress has taken modest measures to help. Lenders have been banned from proceeding with foreclosures on any military personnel for nine months following their return from the battlefront. Previously the grace period was three months. It has also been made mandatory that the interest rates would not change for a year. Another bill has been passed to ensure that disabled veterans do not lose their houses to foreclosure while they wait for disability money to come through. The protection will last for a year. Democrat Senator John Kerry said, “We owe these men and women more than a pat on the back.”

Unfortunately the measures are all temporary and does not address the basic economic problems the veterans are now facing. The first hurdle is the hunt for jobs. The young veterans in their 20s and 30s are facing increased employment problems during the latter half of this year than previously. A survey conducted in 2007 by the Department of Veteran Affairs reports that of the 1,941 combat veterans who returned from the military in 2005, 18% are without jobs at closing of count in 2007. The national unemployment rate in October was 6.5%. A quarter of those who did find jobs earned less than $21,840 annually.

Andrew Spurlock was one of the unfortunate victims who had returned home disabled but could not find a satisfactory job. His skills at operating long-range reconnaissance and sniper management were of no use to get jobs at home. Finally he had to settle for selling pizzas. The situation is acute especially for the injured like Spurlock because their financial problems kick off almost immediately after arriving home. Some are so badly injured that they cannot work at all and depend totally on government handouts. Sometimes it takes six months for the disability cheque to come through. This gives enough time for families to be crushed by foreclosures.