MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS
NEWS RELEASE

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Maj. Yvonne Mays at 609-530-6939 / 609-847-6093 or

Kryn P. Westhoven at 609-530-6950 / 609-847-2215

       After two months of tough training in Texas followed by 10 hard months in Iraq, the New Jersey Army National Soldiers of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Lawrenceville, got a chance to unwind with their families this weekend in Atlantic City.

 

       It was the first of three Yellow Ribbon re-integration events to help Citizen Soldiers make the transition back to civilian life and learn about how their service in the combat zone has made them eligible for enhanced education, health and other benefits.

 

       Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, the Adjutant General, urged the Soldiers to take advantage of every benefit.

 

       “You spent a year of your life defending our way of life,” Rieth said. “You've earned every entitlement you have coming to you.”

 

       As the event opened Sunday at the Atlantic City Convention Center, Gov. Jon S. Corzine reminded the Soldiers and their families that when they deployed in June 2008, he had pledged on behalf of the government that they would not be forgotten.

 

       “This reintegration process is all about keeping the promise that our state and nation will not forget what you have done for all of us,” Corzine said.

 

       The Yellow Ribbon program is a year-old initiative sponsored by the Department of Defense and provides for three events within 90 days of the return of Soldiers from a combat deployment. The first event is to provide Soldiers with information on benefits. The second event focuses on their mental health and the final reintegration event is for a comprehensive health screening. The Pentagon provided New Jersey with about $3 million for the Yellow Ribbon program.

 

       The goal of the first event in Atlantic City was to give the Soldiers and their families the ability to learn about their benefits in an informal setting. Many Soldiers with children brought them along.

 

       Having his 2-year-old daughter Aimee in tow ensured that Spc. David Bennett of Barnegat had few dull moments. The 23-year-old alternated his time listening to briefings and then turning the listening duties over to his wife whenever Aimee got restless and wanted to run in the hallways in the Convention Center.

 

       “Having her here is actually relaxing for me … it kind of makes it less like a formal military event,” said Bennett, who served near Baghdad with the 328th Military Police Company of Cherry Hill.

 

       Bennett, who is attending Rutgers University, said that at one of the briefings, he learned that he may be able to transfer some of his higher education benefits to his wife or daughter under the new enhanced GI Bill.

 

       “Learning something like that makes coming here all the more worthwhile,” Bennett said.

 

       In addition to learning about benefits, the Soldiers were able to attend a career exposition that featured nearly 100 employers and nearly 40 institutions of higher learning. The career exposition continued Monday when it opened to all military veterans.

 

       The Yellow Ribbon event closed Sunday night with a banquet for the Soldiers and their families.

 

       Cpl. Rich Watson, a Camden County Police sergeant in civilian life, said the chance to hang out with his fellow troops from Delta Company, 1st Battalion of the 114th Infantry in Woodbury, was the highlight of his weekend.

 

       “It's good to wind down with these guys,” said Watson, 47. “I've come to consider these guys my second family.”

 

       Sgt. 1st Class Keith Johnson, 51, of Williamstown said he considered the banquet an extension of the welcome home that began with a parade in Trenton in June and has continued with events in towns across the state.

 

       “The parade, the picnics, now this all kind of reminds you that people appreciate what we did,” Johnson said. “Everybody has been great to us.”

 

See related story on the web: Yellow Ribbon Program Provides Support Services