Although I never served in the military, I have a lot of experience with the military. My grandfather served in the US Army, my husband served in the US Marine Corps. While in Okinawa, I was Acting Director at the Navy- Marine Corps Relief Society.  My husband’s family also has a great history of Veterans who have served in the US Services, and so many of our friends are still serving in various services.

The times I spent with my husband while he was on Active Duty were some of the most awesome times of my life. It wasn’t always easy, but I do know that it could’ve been so much harder if circumstances were different. When he was in, it was just the two of us. We didn’t have any children yet, and we spent his first two enlistments enjoying ourselves.

For his first duty station, we lived in the middle of the High Desert in Southern California. Three years of super hot summers and very cold winters were actually pretty amazing. Even though we were kind of in the middle of nowhere, we made it our oasis.

His next duty station was in Okinawa, Japan. Talk about Heaven on Earth. We knew people that really didn’t like it there, but we absolutely loved it. There was so much to do, and see, and the food was amazing. My hubby was sent over to Korea and up to Mainland Japan for a couple of trips, but we were very lucky that he didn’t have to go to any areas of conflict during his time in the Marine Corps. Many of our friends aren’t so lucky. I know friends who have been to war, once, or even multiple times. I know families who make extreme sacrifices while a service member is away.

Since my husband got out of the Marine Corps, we’ve started our family, and more recently, moved across country to a town that is near a few Marine Corps bases. Something we’ve really noticed were the stickers on people’s vehicles. There are so many people who have memorial stickers on their windows with dates that just make me do a double take. So many of the service members who didn’t make it back were born when I was in High School… So many young lives taken from family and friends before they’ve really had a chance to live. We also see the results of conflict here too. Everywhere we go, we see someone who has major scars, or prosthetics. It’s so humbling and sometimes I just want to hug them and say “Thank you”…

We’ve been able to connect with friends we haven’t seen in several years. While they’ve all been really awesome reunions, I see changes in so many of them. Life wasn’t the same after they returned from these areas of conflict. I’ll never truly understand the extent of what they have experienced. I know that it’s got to be tough on them and their families when things aren’t exactly what they used to be. Some people have returned just fine, others have been medically released from the service, asking themselves “Now what?”

Well, I just learned that Walmart has vowed to help Veteran’s in a few ways. They’ve committed to give $10 million in 5 years to help the veteran community, placing a special emphasis on supporting job readiness and training of returning service members. Their commitment will also allow the Walmart Foundation to further support non-profits that assist our veterans in their pursuit of higher education and enable them to more easily reintegrate into civilian life.

Another group that Walmart has partnered with is Mission Serve. Mission Serve uses it’s network to help connect people with excellent volunteer opportunities. Many of them are non-profits, military installation and veteran’s service organizations. You can go to their website and check for projects in your local areas.

Check out this video of a Walmart Store Manager who is also a Bronze Star recipient.

Did you know that according to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 250,000 veterans were unemployed as of March 2010? Veterans are well trained service members, many of whom are already great for leadership roles because of the investments the military has already made. Walmart is working to help businesses embrace our Veterans and their skills.

I am a participant in the Walmart Moms program.  Join me and my fellow Walmart Mom, Jenn Fowler of Frugal Upstate as we talk about Walmart’s Commitment to helping Veterans. Walmart has provided me with compensation for this blog post.  Participation in this program is voluntary. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.