GLENDALE, AZ — On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a veterans group hosted a job fair at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Thursday.
RecruitMilitary, the group that organized the event, said it is an important part of giving back to a community that has already given so much.
Eighty years ago, thousands of American service members took part in the greatest military campaign the world had ever seen. Many did not return home, but those who did were welcomed back with the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944.
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Known as the GI Bill of Rights, the act in part provided unemployment allowances and job-finding assistance to those who sacrificed so much for freedom.
“Both my grandfathers and one of my grandmothers served in World War II. So it kind of runs a long time for us,” said Allen Von Plinsky, the job fair event director and a US Army veteran.
For Von Plinsky, the job fair carries on that tradition, helping transitioning military folks like Ilisha Bazan get a job.
“You join the Army for so many years, so we kind of have a specific job set for that role. And it’s kind of hard to transition sometimes and find the right job to fit into,” said Bazan.
Bazan has been in the army for 10 years, working as a parachute rigger. It is job experience, he says, that is hard to market in the civilian world.
“Pretty much there’s not really much that goes into like a career field here in Phoenix. They got skydiving and stuff, but that’s pretty much about it,” said Bazan.
Around 50 companies came out to the job fair event that are already familiar with what veterans have to offer. Companies like RK Mechanical offer apprenticeships for veterans looking to get into the trades.
“If an individual comes in, they’re infantry, they want to get into a different industry, we will bring them in, we’ll train them in-house,” said Cris Erickson, who works at RK Mechanical.
“Whether this is your first time looking for a job or if it’s your tenth time looking for a job, these events are really good because it gives you an opportunity to sell yourself in person,” said Von Plinsky.
