In the United States, November 11th is Veterans Day - a time when the country stops and recognizes the incredible service and sacrifice of those who have served their country with such distinction. This week we want to celebrate our veterans and highlight not only their achievements, but also shine a light on the challenges they face as they transition back into civilian life and the incredible work underway across the country to help them.

This week we are dedicating our Citizenship web site and the Unlimited Potential blog to celebrate U.S. veterans and their families and bring you some new perspectives and opinions.

Back in March we announced our Elevate America Veterans initiative. This is an extension of our Elevate America program that puts a focus on helping U.S. veterans and their spouses to successfully make the transition from military to civilian employment. As we have worked on building the program we have had the opportunity to work closely with many of the incredible Veterans Services Organizations, nonprofits and veterans themselves and have along the way got some great insight into the challenges our veterans face when they leave the military.

It was this experience that gave us the idea of dedicating a full week to share those stories and highlight those challenges.

During the week you will:

  • Hear directly from veterans, Veterans Services Organizations (VSOs) and nonprofits on the challenges and opportunities facing veterans leaving the military.
  • Discover details on how veterans can access our Elevate America veterans initiative
  • Learn how companies like Microsoft are hoping to attract more veterans into the workplace
  • Find out how you can help a veteran win an Xbox 360 and the recently launched Kinect controller.

We hope you’ll find the stories we share this week interesting and thought provoking. If nothing else, we hope it’ll provide you with a new perspective on the men and women who selflessly dedicate their lives to serving their country.

This week is a great opportunity to reflect and recognize on the incredible contribution our veterans make to our country. We hope our small effort can help to shine a light on that.

More veterans resources: