Editorial: Vets deserve parade and more

Some Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were present in the Canyon of Heroes yesterday, in the vast outpouring of glee over the Giants' Super Bowl victory. That's a good start. Advocates for vets want to organize a national day of action, including parades -- like the vets parade in St. Louis last month, only bigger. That seems like a small but fitting token of the nation's gratitude for the sacrifices the veterans have made already and will keep making, as they cope with injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder for years to come.

But as the advocates know, parades don't buy groceries.

What we most owe these veterans is good health care and help getting jobs. As bad as unemployment has been for the general population, it's been worse for vets. In the January jobs report, the jobless rate for post-9/11 vets declined from 13.3 percent in December and 15.2 percent a year ago to 9.1 percent, compared to 8.3 percent for the general population. It's worse among 18- to 24-year-old vets -- over 30 percent in October. So it's encouraging that President Barack Obama last Friday pushed for municipalities to employ vets in such roles as policemen and firefighters. He also announced a Veterans Jobs Corps, to place up to 20,000 vets in positions rebuilding communities or working in our national parks.

"They've already risked their lives defending America," Obama said. "They should have the opportunity to rebuild America."

One seed for the parks idea was a conversation in the Oval Office late last year. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills), there as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, took the chance to offer his idea about veterans. He has often visited Iraq and Afghanistan and seen service members rebuilding communities. Recently, he read a book about the Civilian Conservation Corps and noted that President Franklin D. Roosevelt directed that priority be given to World War I vets. So Israel proposed a modern equivalent, a Wilderness Warriors Initiative.

In explaining the jobs corps proposal, the president challenged Congress to take some of the money America will no longer be spending on war and use it for "nation-building here at home." He also advocated entrepreneurial training for vets starting small businesses.

For the moment, though, the subject is parades. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America would like to see their own in the Canyon of Heroes, as one feature of a national day of action that could also include memorial services and job fairs. But prospects for a parade seem uncertain. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he's willing, if he can get a seal of approval from the national government. But Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said through a spokesman that it's too soon, because young Americans are still fighting in Afghanistan.

Still, a national day of action should happen. A New York parade -- with veterans more at its heart and less on the periphery, as in yesterday's festivities -- could be its keynote. But one day is not enough. Veterans of these wars will need help and understanding -- and most of all, jobs -- for years. The vast majority of us have been spared the shattering physical and emotional costs of the wars. These veterans have not. And they deserve consistent help for the long haul.