National Hire a Veteran Day Marks 10 Years With a New Challenge for Employers

National Hire a Veteran Day enters its 10th year on July 25 with a broader message for employers: Do not just hire veterans. Put them in jobs that use what they learned in uniform.

Dan Caporale, a Marine Corps veteran and founder of Hire Our Heroes, created the observance in 2017 as a national call to action for veteran employment and challenged employers to hire veterans, retain them and give them a real path to grow.

Caporale said the goal was never just awareness. Employers already knew how to say they supported veterans. He wanted a day that pushed them to act.

From Transition Support to a Hiring Challenge

Caporale said Hire Our Heroes began because many service members leaving the military often have difficulties with the transition into the civilian job market. The organization helpes veterans transition from military service to civilian work as it is often one of the biggest challenges veterans face.

Caporale said his own move into the staffing and recruiting world showed him how much of the civilian hiring process was unfamiliar to many veterans, from writing resumes to explaining military experience in an interview.

That early work also showed him how many employers claimed to value veterans without changing the way they recruited, interviewed or placed them. He saw National Hire a Veteran Day as an annual reminder with a clear standard: If a company says it wants to hire veterans, it should be able to show what it is doing.

You said you wanted to do it. You’ve preached it, Caporale said. Here’s the call to action to make it happen.

The Story Behind July 25

The date came from one hiring decision.

Caporale said July 25 was the day he met retired Marine Master Gunnery Sgt. Tim Kirk for lunch outside Quantico, Virginia. Kirk was transitioning out of the Marine Corps after more than 20 years of service.

Caporale went to the lunch expecting to help another Marine with his transition. By the end of the meal, he had already decided he wanted Kirk on his team.

“As soon as I met Tim, I knew he was the guy,” Caporale said.

The hire became one of the origins of Hire Our Heroes. The nonprofit was founded in 2013 by Caporale and Kirk, then later became part of the USO Pathfinder program. The USO said Hire Our Heroes had connected more than 100,000 service members with free training resources before the organization’s mission continued through Pathfinder.

The observance arrived during a larger national push on veteran employment. In May 2017, the HIRE Vets Act was signed into law, requiring the Department of Labor to create a program recognizing employers that recruit, employ and retain veterans.

A Better Job, Not Just Any Job

The veteran employment picture has changed since National Hire a Veteran Day began. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate for all veterans was 3.5% in 2025, lower than the 4.2% rate for non-veterans.

Caporale said low unemployment does not settle the matter. The question now is whether veterans are landing in jobs that match their training, leadership experience and long-term potential.

Back 10 years ago, I think it was more about opening the door, Caporale said. Today, it’s about making sure veterans walk through the door into careers that are worthy of their experience or leadership.

That is where underemployment comes in. A veteran can have a job and still be underused. A company can run a veteran hiring campaign and still miss the leadership, judgment and technical skills sitting across the interview table.

Caporale said employers should stop asking whether military experience translates to business and start asking whether their organizations have enough people who know how to lead under pressure.

What Employers Should Do Now

National Hire a Veteran Day gives companies a yearly reminder, but Caporale said the initiative should last year-round.

Employers can start by making sure the people reviewing veteran candidates understand what military experience actually represents. A resume may not always make the connection obvious, especially when a service member must translate military jobs, ranks and responsibilities into civilian terms.

Caporale said veterans already working inside a company can help bridge that gap by joining interviews, advising hiring managers and helping explain where a candidate’s background fits the organization’s needs.

For Caporale, the 10th year of National Hire a Veteran Day keeps the original demand intact while raising the standard. Hiring veterans is not a favor to them. It is a test of whether employers know how to recognize experience.

“They should not look at it as a charity,” Caporale said. “It should be looked at no differently than any other hire, other than that you’re bringing somebody with unique experience.”