Task Force Seeks Concerns About Returning Vets

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The Governor's Task Force for Veterans Affairs is inviting people to share concerns about how military members are doing after coming home from war.

The group's Mike Burton is a Vice Provost at Portland State University, and a Vietnam vet.    He says he's observed many young vets having problems with health, education, and housing benefits.

Burton adds veterans coming back from overseas are sometimes in a fragile state, concerned with family and other issues.

Mike Burton: "You need to get them into a comfort zone. If they go into a  large, sterile office, and they're talking to somebody who hasn't been in the service, who doesn't quite understand what the issues are, they're going to have a harder time finding what those benefits are, than if they're if they're really linked up to a veterans' services officer who knows the system, can help them get through it."

A town hall meeting is schedules for Wednesday at Portland State's Smith Memorial Union, from 7 'til 9. Other meetings are scheduled in Hillsboro, and in Eugene, LaGrande, and elsewhere later this summer.

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