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Equal protection under
the law in New Jersey does not apply to all veterans
The NJ law entitled '4A:5-1.1
Veterans preference' makes a mockery of our veterans civil rights
When is a Veteran not a
Veteran in New Jersey? The answer to this question might surprise
you. You can serve our country honorably for 5 years, 10 years, or
even 20 years and when you return home and apply for
veterans preference you are denied because NJ does not recognize your
sacrifice of 5, 10, or 20 years worthy enough to grant you Veterans preference.
 We intend to demonstrate to
the great State of New Jersey that the military service of our boys and
girls must be recognized, honored, and accepted for all the benefits that
veterans are otherwise afforded without discriminating as to the period of
time when that service may have been honorably completed. There
should be no lines drawn to disqualify the honorable military service of
some while accepting the service of others. A veteran is a veteran!
We will accomplish our goal
in two steps. Our plan A is to first go thru the legislative
channels to lobby the Assembly and the Senate to amend this archaic and
discriminatory law - they have the authority to change the law to make the
State of New Jersey veterans friendly. The State of New Jersey and
the Department of Defense are deceiving our boys and girls when during the
recruiting process they PROMISE them all kinds of benefits, to lure them
into signing up for military duty, including veterans
preference for civil service jobs. This is unfair and fraudulent because when they return home
they find themselves without the recognition and the veterans preference
they were promised when they joined the military and if that wasn't bad
enough they are then labeled NON-VETERANS
by the state.
We intend to force the
Department of Defense to CLEARLY tell the boys and girls of New Jersey
that they will be considered NON-VETERANS and that they will not be
awarded any recognition and benefits by the state of NJ when they return
home from duty. That has to be stipulated in the contract they sign
when they are being recruited for military service, doing otherwise is
deceitful and could
be construed as FRAUD. They have to stop luring them with false
benefits that the State of NJ is too cheap to afford. They must know
that you can serve a 5, 10 or 20 years tour of duty and the State will
classify you as a NON-VETERAN.
We expect to succeed with
this approach; but will move on to plan B which will included the Class Action Suit,
press releases, demonstrations, and other actions including Civil
Disobedience in front of Military recruiting stations
if plan A does not work.
This law should be struck
down as unconstitutional for the following reason. This law
recognizes 90 days of time served during the Vietnam war period good
enough to grant those soldiers veterans preference while at the same time
it does not recognize the same sacrifice made by our soldiers during the
Iraq/Afghan wars good enough to grant the same benefit to those veterans.
It appears that this law
considers the Vietnam War more important
than the Iraq and Afghan Wars.
 Why does this law draw a
distinction between these two wars and classifies the Vietnam era soldiers
as full pledged Veterans yet it disqualifies the Iraq/Afghan era soldiers
from the same recognition and benefits? Today's Veterans should
be treated with the same respect and honor as the Veterans that served
during the Vietnam war time era.
A war is a war and those
that served during war time periods should be treated equally.
In all fairness to our soldiers the law should not make distinctions
between wars.
Did you know that in NJ you can volunteer
and be ready and willing to serve your
country during time of war and when you come back home from 5 years of
active duty you are not considered a veteran and the State classifies you as a
NON-VETERAN? Keep in mind that a soldier can be deployed to war at
any given time while he/she is on active duty and that the State should
not discriminate against those soldiers that for whatever reasons are not
deployed. They have no control over the Department of Defense
decision as to who deploys.
New Jersey does not really support the troops |
