A better welcome home
An array of innovative approaches to help veterans took center stage Wednesday at a gathering of military leaders, community members, and academics at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. As the country prepares to welcome home large numbers of servicemen and servicewomen from Iraq this winter, the conference “A Better Welcome Home: Transformative Models to Support Veterans and Their Families” explored approaches to help veterans connect to their communities and leverage their strengths in a tough job market. “As the president is bringing back our forces from Iraq, we have the enormous duty of figuring out ways to welcome people home,” said Col. Christian Macedonia, who delivered the event’s keynote address, “The Sublime Joy of Serving Those Who Serve.” Macedonia is a military physician and program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency who most recently served as the medical sciences adviser to the former Chairman...