Local foundation helps veterans find employment

SAN DIEGO – Veterans who return home from the battlefield encounter a new type of fight, a fight to find employment. A local foundation has been set up to help returning veterans find employment. 

The Travis Manion Foundation helps war veterans transition back into civilian workforce. Many times the foundation will put them in touch with businesses owned by military veterans. 

Both, Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans have a much harder time finding work than their civilian counterparts.

Omar Pineda, a marine who recently got out of the Marine Corps had two emotions: a sense of complete liberation he would never have to return to the battlefields of Iraq and an outright fear and panic he would not be able to find a job. 

Post 9/11 veterans have a higher unemployment figure compared to their civilian counterparts. In part, Pineda says because of the perception employers have of war veterans.

Pineda’s employment worries found a friend in the Travis Manion Foundation.

Actor and veterans advocate Gary Sinise has also embraced the foundation. 

The foundation is named in honor of Marine Travis Manion who was killed in Iraq during his second deployment. His legacy of service to his country inspired the creation of the foundation in his honor, while at the same time challenging the living to help veterans like Pineda find work.