Nation Marks Veterans Day Amid Efforts To End Veteran Homelessness And Unemployment

November 11, 2009 8:20 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The nation on Wednesday marks a somber Veterans Day in the wake of the violence at Fort Hood and the rising death toll among U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The Obama administration is currently working to end homelessness among veterans, estimated at over 130,000, and last week issued an executive order to help veterans get federal employment.

The annual ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery will be hosted by Veterans Affairs Sec. Eric Shisenki, National President of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Gene Crayton, and Brig. Gen. Karl Horst, commander of the Army Military District of Washington and the Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region.

The festivities, which include a color guard and a concert by the Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants, will commence with a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns by President Barack Obama.

The President then delivers an address before veterans before returning to the White House to meet with his war council on the next steps in the Afghan war, now on its eighth and most deadly year. Coming only days after an Army psychiatrist at the nation's largest military base shot to death 13 people and wounded 30 others, Obama meets with Defense Sec. Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen and other members of his national security team.

Vice President Joe Biden, meanwhile, hosts a luncheon at the Naval Observatory for veterans and active duty service members. Joining him will be Shisenki and Second Lady Jill Biden.

Gates on Wednesday said in a message, "On this our ninth Veterans Day since the attacks on September 11th, let us take a moment to remember those, past and present, who have served our nation in uniform. Today we remain a nation at war with hundreds of thousands of men and women deployed far from home."

"This Veterans Day is especially poignant given the atrocity that took place at Fort Hood.. Our hope is that time will eventually assuage the anguish that this terrible act has caused," he added.

Mullen also said, "This spirit of service continues to shine in the faces of veterans today. I have seen them this year in my travels around the world and throughout our Nation. We are committed to remembering their service, caring for wounded warriors and their families, and overcoming the challenge of homelessness." There are currently more than 131,000 homeless veterans, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said on Tuesday in a hearing of his panel, the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development. The hearing was held a week after the VA held a summit to end homelessness among veterans.

"Those who have served this nation as Veterans should never find themselves on the streets, living without care and without hope," Shisenki had said, presenting a five-year proposal to expand supportive services for housing, education and jobs.

The number of homeless six years ago was estimate at 195,000. But the recession is expected to raise the number of homeless veterans by as much as 15 percent in five years if no additional measures are introduced, according to Shisenki.

Obama on Monday also signed an executive order creating a Veterans Employment Program office within most federal agencies.

The order aims to increase recruitment and training of veterans for jobs in the federal government, as well as help them adjust to civilian life. The initiative includes adding over 50,000 veterans to the workforce of the Homeland Security Department.