veterans

A local World War II veteran says he still can’t believe the recognition he got Monday at the Veterans Day parade in New York City.

That veteran is Jack Foy, a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the fiercest battles of World War II.

Foy was invited to be on the reviewing standing Monday when President Trump talked made reference to Foy’s service.

“We are proudly joined today by a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, a native New Yorker who is 94 years old and still going very, very strong, Corporal Jack Foy,” Trump told the crowd.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the veteran unemployment rate has been on the decline, but veterans report hurdles in reentering the work force.

We talk with local veterans who discuss their experiences with the job market. Our guests:

• Laura Stradley, veteran, and executive director of the Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester
• Terry Winslow, veteran, and security manager for del Lago Resort and Casino
• Blair Morgan, veteran, and vice president of human resources at del Lago Resort and Casino 

On this Veterans Day, we talk with refugees who served the U.S. military as interpreters in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who have come to America on Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs). By law, the SIV process should take no more than nine months, but bureaucracy and backlogs have forced candidates to wait for years. For many interpreters, an SIV is a matter of life and death: interpreters who served with U.S. forces are considered traitors by the Taliban.

This hour, our guests share the challenges they and their families have faced in coming to America. We also preview a film about SIVs called "The Interpreters" that will air tonight on WXXI-TV. In studio:

• Mujtaba Haidar , Afghani interpreter for the U.S. military who came to America on a Special Immigrant Visa
• Javayd Samadie. Afghani interpreter for the U.S. military who came to America on a Special Immigrant Visa
• Ellen Smith, director of Keeping Our Promise, a program of Refugees Helping Refugees
  

Native Americans have played an important role in the U.S. military.  Tonight, a documentary that pays tribute to their stories premieres at 9 o'clock on WXXI-TV.

Two World War II veterans with local ties will be featured in a national TV program Monday night as part of a Veterans Day remembrance.  

The show is called Honor Flight Heroes, and it will be on the American Heroes Channel, which is owned by the Discovery network.

The two veterans are Philip ‘Curly’ Voystock and Harold Stryker, and they will be featured in the pilot program for a potential series about veterans.

When service members leave active duty for civilian life, they may face challenges. Female veterans report that they have specific hurdles that are hard to overcome — including a lack of social support.

We sit down with several female veterans who share their stories, and a new project they worked on called Eyes Front. It’s a photography and writing collaboration where they’ve documented their experiences. We talk to them about what they want the community to know. In studio:

• Jennifer Wiese, veteran, social worker at the Rochester Vet Center, and participant in the Eyes Front program
• Jade Starr, veteran and participant in the Eyes Front program
• Megan Charland, director of photography and digital arts at Flower City Arts Center