Marine Corps veteran Michael Bower is president and owner of Eagle Metalcraft Inc. in East Syracuse
In my early 20s, as a Marine during the Gulf War, this nation entrusted me with helping maintain and operate multimillion-dollar tanks in combat operations. When I came home and landed my first job, my employer hardly trusted me to load sand into a sand blaster.
The sad reality is that all the experience and knowledge I accumulated while defending democracy and freedom wasn’t seen as transferable to the civilian world, where a much greater emphasis is placed on a college degree or job-specific training. I grew up poor and unable to access adequate financial assistance to obtain the training or degree necessary to be seen on the same level as my peers. I took the job I could get so I could support myself and my family. It took me another five years …