veterans

Matthew Hoh was the first US civilian official to resign in protest over the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. The Washington Post called him "exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts." In this video from Brave New Films, Hoh reads his letter of resignation and explains why he decided to make a public statement. "The people that are fighting us there are fighting because they're occupied," he says of Afghanistan.

In 2007, a VA survey found that 18 percent of recently discharged veterans were unemployed and that of those who had found a job, 25 percent made less than $22,000 a year. Those numbers have only gotten worse since the recent recession, but with ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more and more servicemembers are returning home and trying to find work. This video from New America Media takes a look at the struggles of veterans to readjust to civilian life.

Protesters in Syracuse, N.Y. protested for single-payer, "Medicare for All" outside of Wellpoint last week. They spoke out against the proposed mandate and subsidies for private insurance companies in the coming health care reform bill. The arrest of one protester and the picket line were captured on video exclusively for GRITtv by Wilton Vought of Essential Dissent, as well as commentary by an Iraq veteran, who points out that more people die from lack of health care each year than died on 9/11.