This Memorial Day, honor the fallen and support our veterans

Photo by Matt McGee

Guest blogger Paul Rieckhoff is Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA).

This Memorial Day, as we honor the American servicemembers of all generations who made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield, it is our duty to serve our veterans here at home. At IAVA, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, we’re harnessing the power of social media to reconnect veterans with one another and to engage communities across the country in support of those who have served.

For far too many Americans, life during wartime has gone on unchanged. During World War II, 12% of Americans were serving in uniform. But today, less than 1% of the U.S. population has served in Iraq or Afghanistan. So it should be no surprise that when troops come home, they often feel isolated and alone. It can also be hard to reconnect with friends, family and community.

These new veterans are young, tech-savvy, and geographically-dispersed, so IAVA built an innovative campaign to reach out to them. With ads that are running on TV, radio, online, in print and outdoors, our historic Public Service Announcement campaign directs Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to a groundbreaking new social network, CommunityofVeterans.org.

CommunityofVeterans.org is the first online community exclusively for the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s like Facebook for vets. But it’s also much more than just another social network. In addition to giving Iraq and Afghanistan veterans the opportunity to reconnect with their fellow troops, the site also links them with crucial resources in their community, for everything from counseling to scholarships, disability benefits to home loans.

Veterans rely on one another, but they also need the support of folks around them. The friends and the families of America’s troops and veterans want to reconnect with their loved ones, but many aren’t sure how to start the conversation. So the second front of our PSA campaign promotes SupportYourVet.org, where friends and family members can take part in their own online community, share advice, and find critical resources for military and veteran families.

These innovative campaigns are already making a difference. One veteran struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has said, “I thank God for [two things]: my daughter and for this website.” A family member has said, “I think IAVA's campaign--both the PSAs and the Web site--are some of the most powerful messages out there in support of veterans.”

Community of Veterans and Support Your Vet are new campaigns for a new generation. But there’s much more work to do. This Memorial Day, you can send a message of support to our troops and help us spread the word and make sure every veteran coming home finds a community ready and waiting to support them.