The following letter was sent the the government officials indicated.  Within two days of sending it I received a response from Assemblymen Chiappone and Smith.  I have not received any response from the Senator and I am still waiting for the governor to respond as well.  I have also met with Assemblyman Chiappone in  his Bayonne office and provided him with certain documentation that he requested.  I asked him to consider the need of amending the law to correct the inequality.  He will keep us updated.

February 10, 2008

Dear Governor Corzine:

Dear Senator Cunningham:

Dear Assemblyman Chiappone:

Dear Assemblyman L Harvey Smith:

I am a Vietnam era veteran that although did not have to serve in combat zone I have enjoyed the recognition, prestige, and benefits of the Veterans Preference afforded by our great state.

My son has recently received a letter from the NJ Department of Military and Veterans Affairs denying him the Veterans Preference that I believe he is rightfully entitled to receive.

I am informing you that I am prepared to take the State of New Jersey to court for discrimination.  I hope that this matter can be expeditiously resolved without the adverse public relations and embarrassment to our state that a civil rights case would create.  I will also be contacting other legislators and hope to avoid having to go public to the Press on this issue.

I write to you on behalf of my son (name removed for privacy).  He just returned home from 5 years of active duty and have been REJECTED and told that under NJ law he is a NON-VETERAN.  That is a slap to our face and we are not going to take this without fighting for equal rights for our boys and girls that sacrifice their time to serve our country during time of war only to be told by our state that their service is not good enough.

I have started the website http://www.njveteransrights.com as the first tool to gather support and if need be to prepare a class action suit to demand equal rights for our veterans.

I pray that we can resolve the inconsistency of this law as soon as possible and retroactively award Veterans Preference to my son and other veterans and avoid all the unnecessary lengthy litigation that might be necessary to get the redress we seek.

Sincerely,

(name removed for privacy)

[Home] [Links Page] [Text of NJ Veterans law 4A:5-1.1]

Determine your points - The Department of Labor (DOL) developed the Veterans' Preference Advisor - an online tool that allows Veterans to examine the preferences for which they might be entitled with regard to Federal jobs and to determine the points they are entitled to according to their military service.