Attention A T users. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps.
1. Please switch auto forms mode to off.
2. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc).
3. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow.
You will now be able to tab or arrow up or down through the submenu options to access/activate the submenu links.
Locator
Contact
Search
Search
Menu
Ray F.
![Probably the worst part of the job was vehicle recovery. We’d have to pick up these vehicles like Humvees that had been hit by IEDs and VBIEDs [Vehicle Borne IEDs] and put them on the back of the trucks. And most of the time they’d be covered up already, but on occasion they’d still be hot from the explosion, too hot to touch, and you can smell the burning flesh on the seats and everything. I can still smell it to this day, just talking about it.](img/vets/vet_rayf_iraq.jpg)
![When I came back from my first deployment, I didn’t think about claiming unemployment because of the stigma. The second time around a VA counselor said; ‘One thing I’ve been telling guys to do, if you don’t have a job to go back up to, is start collecting [unemployment] immediately.’ Later, I decided to go to school for social work. I was like, ‘Hey maybe I should be like [that VA guy]. This could be a good career for me; helping other vets.’](img/vets/vet_rayf_unemployment.jpg)
Ray surmounted a multitude of challenges after returning home from his last deployment. Going back to school and finding meaningful employment were top priorities for Ray. With funding through the Yellow Ribbon program, Ray went back to school and received a degree in Social Work. He is now the Coordinator of Student Veterans Services at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
