Wounded Vets Tapped For New VA Program

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Washington Post - MAR. 31

Lance Cpl. Christopher Johnson lost his right arm to machine gun fire when his squad of Marines was ambushed by enemy fighters near Fallujah in Iraq last summer. Now the 20 year old Pennsylvania native is on a different kind of mission, trying to start a new life back home and help fellow wounded veterans do the same. Johnson, who joined the Marines after high school, is training to be a counselor as part of a small, experimental program at the Veterans Affairs Department that provides skills, work experience and the prospect of a VA job for wounded soldiers whose injuries will force their exit from the military. The program began last fall and is run by a small cadre of VA staffers, who volunteer to train and mentor participants in addition to their regular jobs. The effort has brought 27 service members into the department as volunteer interns, with nine becoming full time hires, VA officials said.

outstanding idea instead of hiring civilians