NASA to Get First African-American Administration?
WHITFIELD: All right, happening now, President Obama says he is saddened by the death of former South Korean president Roh Moo Hyun. The South Korean government says he committed suicide by jumping from example a hill near his home. Roh left office last year. He was being investigated in a bribery scandal. And NASA may be getting its first African-American administration. President Obama has picked former astronaut and marine general Charles Bolden to head the space agency. Bolden piloted two space shuttle missions and commanded two others. The Senate has to confirm the nomination. And space shuttle Atlantis and its crew will spend at least one more day in orbit. NASA called off today's planned landing attempt in Florida because of thunderstorms. Atlantis is trying to wrap up its successful missile to repair the Hubble space telescope. All right, more now on our focus this hour. You are looking at pictures there of the Arlington National Cemetery where 300,000 armed service men and women are buried on this more than 600 acre plot. On this Memorial Day weekend, we are focusing on some solutions for many of our American vets coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, facing so many challenges from finding a job to getting house and of course getting the right kind of mental health care kind of health care. President Obama has been pretty busy this week talking at commencement addresses for the last couple of weeks, but one that is particularly poignant for commander-in-chief, talking at the U.S. Naval Academy and that's what he did this week.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will be with you every step us of the way, increasing your pay, increasing child care and helping families deal with the stress and separation of war. My wife Michelle has come to see in her business with military families across the country, when a loved one is deployed, the whole family goes to war. Finally whether you are 26-years-old or 89, if you have worn the uniform and taken care of America, then America will take care of you.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, President Obama just on Friday talking about the commitment the U.S. had. And by the way, this hand shake and hug there, that taking place between none other than Jack McCain, who is the son of his former Republican presidential rival John McCain. There, he and his wife in the crowd. Four generations to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy there. What an honor for the entire family. All right, lots of challenges as I've been saying for our troops. And despite that, the U.S. military says that they are pleased with the way recruitment has gone. However, there is renewed commitment from the Obama administration to make sure that all that can be given to troops is certainly done. Here's Elaine Quijano.</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four months after becoming commander-in-chief, President Obama in his weekly address vowed to stand by America's service members and their families.</s>OBAMA: We have a responsibility to serve all of them as well as they have served us.</s>QUIJANO: For Ryan Galluci, an Iraq war veteran and now spokesman for the veterans group AMVETS, it's an incomplete picture, especially on the president's planned multibillion dollar budget increase for the Department of Veterans Affairs.</s>RYAN GALLUCI, ARMY VETERAN: Since this budget proposal has come out, we haven't really seen line by line where this money is going to be spent.</s>QUIJANO: Galluci, who served for a year as a civilian affair specialist in Iraq notes another problem, skyrocketing unemployment that recently hit 11.2 percent for Iraq and Afghanistan war vets, higher than the national average.</s>GALLUCI: In the early stages, we haven't seen too much out of the administration, in particular to help veterans find jobs.</s>QUIJANO: Republican Congressman Brian Bilbray says while he understands the president's need to revive the broader economy now, he hopes veterans don't get short changed in the long-term.</s>REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R), CALIFORNIA: We've just got to remember this is not a luxury to provide the services to the veterans. It is an obligation or responsibility. No matter what the condition of the economy, we have an obligation to do what we have promised for these men and women. This is a contract we can't walk away from, even in bad times.</s>WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano joining us now. So we heard about the concerns. Do veterans feel like there are encouraging signs coming from this administration in particular?</s>QUIJANO: Well, veterans groups do give the president high marks for announcing that he wants to streamline the transfer of service members health care records from the Department of Defense for an active duty member over to the Veterans Affairs Department once that person leaves the service. That is a problem that they have been having for quite some time. So the fact that President Obama has taken some initial steps to try and streamline all of that certainly is an encouraging sign, an important indication that he is focused on their needs.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks so much. Other encouraging signs coming from vets themselves. Those who are enlisted who say and who have told us, particularly the ones from Ft. Benning, Georgia who kind of reiterate why they dedicate their lives to the service.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was a bagger at a grocery store, saw a commercial and decided I wanted to serve my country the best way I could do it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something I always wanted to do. Didn't really have any family do it. Just figured it would be an adventure.</s>SGT. MICHAEL JOHNSTON, U.S. ARMY: My father, he served 23, 23.5 years in the United States Navy. He led by example and I just wanted to follow my example and do my part for the country.</s>PVT. ZACHARY DIXON, U.S. ARMY: My little brother and my little sister, I've helped raise them ever since they were little because my father has always been away because he's in the war and all that. But I came here to fight so they don't have to. 1</s>ST. LT. TREY PARADISO, U.S. ARMY: I'm a fourth generation soldier. I just got back from my first deployment to Iraq. I'm about to leave again in a few weeks for my second tour.</s>SGT. 1DST CLASS CHASTITY WASSMAN, U.S. ARMY: I went to Tikrit for a year, then I went to Iraq for seven months and I'm going again to Iraq for 15 months and just got back this past August.</s>SGT. 1ST CLASS BLAKE SIMMS, U.S. ARMY: Iraq, it was interesting, dealing with the people over there. They are good people. There are some bad apples, but for the most part, good people.</s>SGT. 1ST CLASS CHAD STACKPOLE, U.S. ARMY: We were there to find the bad guys and the unit that I was in, and that's what we specialized in.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't be scared. You know what we signed up for. Go out there and do our job and then come back home safe.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get letters from my 10-year-old sister and it's so cute, she says she's very proud of me, that she loves me very much.</s>STAFF SGT. YULISSA POZO, U.S. ARMY: Every time I walk through and people see me in uniform, people always thank the soldiers.</s>JOHNSTON: The gentleman came up if I wasn't eating lunch. It was around lunch time. And he offered to buy me a meal for thanking me for what I was doing.</s>PARADISO: I can't tell you how much it means to me to have people come up with me when I'm eating in a restaurant and say thank you.</s>STAFF SGT. CLYDE BARLOW, U.S. ARMY: It's almost an everyday occurrence. I'm glad for that because I like that people haven't forgotten what we are doing here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will never be able to think up an experience like this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something you can always look back and say you're proud of. Makes you feel a part of something.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe this is what I was born to do.</s>CROWD: Happy Memorial Day.</s>WHITFIELD: And we thank all of them and all of you for your service. All right, pretty grueling statistics that we really can't underscore enough. One in nine Iraqi and Afghanistan war vets is looking for work, out of jobs. So we are going to show you an inventive place, job fairs, all across the country in a city near you, specifically tailored for war vets.</s>REBECCA GERVASI, CIVILIAN: Hi, this is Rebecca Gervasi. I'm a DOD civilian serving in Baghdad, Iraq with Defense Contract Management Agency. I'm also a member of the 140th wing Buckley Air Force Base Colorado and I just want to say thank you, happy Memorial Day for all of your support. Love you guys.