This comes from the federal labor law signs that are required to be posted at work, you know, the ones you never read. From the Affirmative Action poster:

Vietnam Era and Special Disabled Veterans:

38 USC 4212 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 prhobits discrimination against and requires Affirmative Action to employ and advance in employment Vietnam Era Veterans and qualified special disabled vets.


So what exactly does this mean? Growing up in a military town I often heard people complain about losing out on job bids to someone who was a disabled veteran, but what if the disabled veteran is some kid who broke his collarbone in AIT as opposed to a guy who took some shrapnel in the leg at Grenada or pulled 2 tours in Nam? What are we repaying, what wrong are we attempting to correct (the draft?), and do you guys lump this type of affirmative action in with race/sex motivated programs?