[female narrator] When a serious injury does end an Army career,
soldiers sometimes have to find a new passion to pursue.
[male narrator] One disabled veteran found a career he loved
with the help of a special Veteran's affairs program.
[female narrator] Ray Flores has his story.
San Diego, CA
[Art Gardiner] "I can't believe they pay me to do this job."
[Flores] This is Art Gardiner, a video journalist
who works at VA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
[Raymond Flores, VA Reporting]
But he's also on the road quite a bit, documenting the impact VA has
on the lives of veterans and their families.
[Art Gardiner, VA Photo/Videojournalist] "To come out here and to see what it's like
and what they go through--"
[Flores] Here he's covering VA's Summer Sports Clinic in San Diego.
Some of the veterans he's shooting never imagined they'd ever walk again,
let alone ride a wave.
(cheering veterans)
[Gardiner] From the time they get here, they're all nervous,
and at the time they leave--when they've got that camaraderie going--
dude, there's no better feeling in the world.
[Flores] Art understands those type of feelings more than most.
That's because in his former life, Art was a lean, mean fighting machine,
an Army Airborne Ranger.
[Gardiner] I really--I never saw me leaving the military."
[Flores] But one day, the Army life he was building for himself
went into free fall--
an airborne training exercise gone tragically wrong.
[Gardiner] I had a fracture in my right femur, in my pelvis, in my left SI joint, L5,
and a closed head injury.
They weren't sure if I was going to walk again.
[Washington, D.C.] [Flores] The need to learn a new trade brought Art
to the Department of Veteran's Affairs--more specifically, Bob Bondy's office.
[Gardiner] Hey, Mr. Bondy!
[Bob Bondy] Art! How are you? Good to see you again--have a seat.
Let me get your file.
[Flores] Bob's part of the Veterans Affairs Vocational Rehabilitation
and Employment Program.
It's mission is to help veterans with service-connected disabilities
prepare for, find, and keep jobs that suit them.
[Bob Bondy, VA Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor]
I would say 80 percent of the people who come in the door
are looking for education to move into some type of job that they can do
because they can no longer do the type of work they did in the military.
[Gardiner] I chose photojournalism and the recognized route to get a job
in photojournalism was a four year degree in photojournalism.
[Flores] Benefitting from VA's Vocational Rehabilitation Program
he studied at the Corcoran College of Art and Design,
ultimately receiving a degree in photojournalism.
[Bondy] Our goal is to get the veteran into the best possible school,
the best possible program they want to be in.
[Gardiner] Going from stills to video--
[Flores] Having had his legs broken, vertebra fractured, and his head injured
during his time in the Army, Art had to prove he could handle
the rigors of his chosen profession.
He did that by taking what's called an Initial Functional Capacities Evaluation.
[Bondy] And he did show the physical therapist who did this
that he could perform work as a photographer.
[Flores] While pursuing his undergraduate degree, VA provided Art
with his tuition money, along with a housing stipend,
and once a veteran like Art gets his or her degree, the next step
is to assist in their job search.
In Art's case, he landed an internship
with VA's Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs,
which turned into a full-time position.
Initially, he worked as a photojournalist,
then later, as a videographer and editor for a weekly TV program, VA News.
[VA News This Week]
[Gardiner] To be honest with you, I think the hardest part about being out here right now
is having to be tied to that camera and not going through this stuff with these guys,
cause man, I tell ya, my wife sits there and she kicks me every time
that I go out to these events and cover them--
she's like, "Why aren't you out there participating?"
[Flores] For Bob and others at VA, in the business of helping disabled veterans
achieve their dreams, seeing veterans build new lives for themselves is rewarding.
[Bondy] The nice part for me is to be able to show them
that there are other things out there that they can do that they're going to enjoy.
[female narrator] To learn more about assistance like this for eligible veterans,
visit vetsuccess.gov. [♪music♪]