National Veterans Foundation

Coverage by the Sacramento News and Review of “The Road Home: From Combat to College and Beyond.” at Sierra College:

It looked like any impromptu party, but the group gathered in the Rocklin Park Hotel lounge recently wasn’t there to drink. They were getting acquainted between press interviews.

Shad Meshad, a Vietnam veteran and the president of the National Veterans Foundation, and Patrick Campbell, the legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, had come to town to speak at a Sierra College Veterans-sponsored forum, “The Road Home: From Combat to College and Beyond.”

They were joined by two people from Sierra College who have made that journey. Student Kyle Williams did two tours as a Marine in Iraq before a wound sent him back to civilian life. Catherine J. Morris, a Sierra College veterans counselor, served in three branches of the military.

The conversation varied from rowdy to serious, heart-wrenching to hilarious. What they all agreed on, though, is that the U.S. government needs to pay more attention to its returning veterans.