Mr. IZZARD. It lasted 2 months.

The CHAIRMAN. And you quit?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes; I did. I had to quit because of my wife's health condition. I was working abnormal hours. I would leave in the morning at 7:30 and I come back sometime at night at 11:30, 12 o'clock, depending on what type of situations that came up at the office or what types of interviews I had that day. My wife passed out one night. She was at home having an epileptic fit and no one was there to take care of her or anything. So I had to quit the job according to her health. The CHAIRMAN. Were you given a weekly pay plus commission? What type of job was it?

Mr. IZZARD. They told me upon completion of my program I should make a salary of $160 a week, which sounded very good, plus, they said, your commission basis. The more applicants and interviews that you take, the more people that you get that can be accepted by this company, it will increase the-they have a quarterly system, sort of, like the Army does, fiscal year. I was working pretty good; I had 127 on staff when I started out and when I quit I had 489.

The CHAIRMAN. Four hundred and eighty-nine customers?
Mr. IZZARD. Yes; that I had solicited.

The CHAIRMAN. That bought insurance?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. You are a pretty good salesman.
Mr. IZZARD. No; I was just personality-wise.

The CHAIRMAN. You had sold 489 new policies?

Mr. IZZARD. No; I sold actually 250-some new policies.
The CHAIRMAN. New policies?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. What is it?

Mr. IZZARD. Life, health and accident, same thing.

The CHAIRMAN. How much was your base salary?

Mr. IZZARD. The first week they paid me $76. The next week they paid me $78 and the week after that they paid me $117. Then they told me I had to pay for the training course.

The CHAIRMAN. That job ended after 2 months because of your wife's medical problems. What was your next job?

Mr. IZZARD. The next job was to seek a job.

The CHAIRMAN. What?

Mr. IZZARD. My next job was to seek employment.

The CHAIRMAN. How long were you out seeking?

Mr. IZZARD. That was June. I have been out now for a month and a few days.

The CHAIRMAN. So this insurance job was your last job. Have you been on the pavement since then?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes; but I finally acquired a job 2 weeks ago. If it had not been for a reporter I wouldn't have that job.

The CHAIRMAN. Can you tell us what that job is? Are you on it now?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes; I am working now.
The CHAIRMAN. What is that job?
Mr. IZZARD. It is called a millhand.

The CHAIRMAN. Millhand?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes; the ink that you use in your typewriters, the inks

that you find in your pen and the colorful brochures and booklets that you have-we make them.

The CHAIRMAN. Are you selling these commodities?

Mr. IZZARD. Negative-it is making the ink.

The CHAIRMAN. Making the ink?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. You are out there on the line pouring ink in bottles?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes.

The CHAIRMAN. And that kind of work, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with turbines, electronics, armaments or the supervisory duties?

Mr. IZZARD. Negative; in fact it is going to take me 2 years to make millhand because I am still an apprentice.

The CHAIRMAN. The company that you are working for, does it have a union contract?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes; but I haven't worked long enough to join it yet. The CHAIRMAN. But you are an apprentice and if you last long enough you will become eligible for that union?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes, I will. And I will also be eligible to make $3.10 an hour.

The CHAIRMAN. $3.10 an hour. What are you making now?
Mr. IZZARD. $2.65.

The CHAIRMAN. Again I underscore, this job has nothing to do with any of the training or experience you have had in the military service? Mr. IZZARD. No; it doesn't.

The CHAIRMAN. You were in 7 years, 4 years in Vietnam, can you describe for us what, amongst the men you were around, you talked with, had a beer with them or what have you, what was the general expectation amongst them in terms of getting a job whenever they got back in the States?

Mr. IZZARD. When you are black and have an education you can expect nothing. That is like the phrase I gave you in the beginning; that is which is to be expected don't expect because it will never be expected.

The CHAIRMAN. So there weren't really expectations, in fact just the opposite?

Mr. IZZARD. Right.

The CHAIRMAN. Were you in any way led to believe by superior officers that you should have higher expectations, or there were lots of jobs, good opportunities available back in the States? Put your mind to it and you will have a bright future once you come back or ever sold any kind of a bill of goods like that? Or attempted to be sold?

Mr. IZZARD. Well, none of them ever tried to sell me anything because everybody said I was straightforward and you can tell me what you want. I believe what I can only see, and a lot of the men that were over there—well, they have got their problems; they can relate them. I can only relate those experiences which I have incurred. Some individuals, I feel for them, because I know how it feels with what I have got and I did go for one job interview. I want to bring this out very clearly, the first thing the man asked me, after I filled out his application, took his aptitude test and everything, he asked me to go

and get a police record and driving record which I got and brought back to him and he was smiling and he said "This is wonderful; you are just the type of individual that we have been looking for." But I could see in his eyes he was just saying that because he knew that I was a veteran and he didn't want to hurt my feelings.

And he went on, he says "Tell me something: Are you a drug addict? Are you an alcoholic? Did you commit any Vietnam atrocities?" And I told him very flatly "No, I didn't commit any atrocities." The only atrocity I feel that is really occurring now is the one against the veteran, the one that everybody is placing against the veteran because a guy goes over there. I don't have a hard luck story, I just tell it like it is; I don't have one. The guy that goes over there spends his time and he comes back, maybe he's never been wounded, maybe never been in the thick of combat but it is the idea that he did go and I feel that the United States owes him something at least a job-they owe him that.

The CHAIRMAN. In any of these job interviews did they know that you had the Silver and Bronze Star, Purple Heart?

Mr. IZZARD. It is listed on my 214.

The CHAIRMAN. And the job interviewer had that 214 in front of him?

Mr. IZZARD. He knew I had it; I had to present it in order to show my discharge.

The CHAIRMAN. Did any interviewer say to you, well, something to this effect, you have got a hell of a service record, you are the kind of fellow we ought to bend backwards to help, or was it lip service?

Mr. IZZARD. I got one on the same interview that I said, they offered a supervisory position and the guy said you are the type of guy we are looking for, you are straightforward. He gave me a test where he gave me a blank sheet of paper, set me in his office, told me to go back outside and tell me everything that is in his office. I drew him a blueprint of it and handed it back to him. He said, "I tell you what I can do.. I can give a job as a guard or make you a part-time investigator because its a black neighborhood which we can't get into and probably you can." And I told him he was crazy.

Senator BUCKLEY. The list I have here states you had a number of bad interviews. Was this related to the fact you were a war veteran? Have you found this has been a handicap?

Mr. IZZARD. I feel that is one of the greatest outside of-I don't want to say it is all racial, but right now the big play is every veteran that comes back from Vietnam, he is either a warmonger-if he is not a warmonger he is a dope addict, if he is not a dope addict he is an alcoholic, and you can expect that when a man-when you go before him, regardless whether he is a personnel officer, the president of a company or he is or she is just a receptionist standing there and plugging in the phone calls, and you say "Well, I am a veteran, here is my 214." They look at you as if to say "Does he have a machinegunt behind him? Does he have a grenade in his pocket? Or does he have pills and a needle in his pants?" It's impossible. I mean I have been looked at the same way; I can't drink alcohol, I'll tell you that from the start because, one, I have a bad liver and alcohol doesn't agree with me and I have never taken dope and if I had it would be no different from the position I am in now.

Senator BUCKLEY. It is kind of a shocking story you tell. Do you have any idea if this has been the attitude of the employment people for years or a recent development?

Mr. IZZARD. I believe its been recent, since the drug issue has opened up so widely as it has right now. Well, like I said, I don't like to rely on other peoples' stories or what has happened to them but I had one guy and he was a very close friend, in fact one of the best friends I believe I have ever had, and he started on drugs but he stopped, and during the course of the time that he was on drugs it was just marihuana and he was caught and he was busted for it; he was the same rank I was, staff sergeant E-6, and right now he is serving 10 years in Leavenworth.

Now, him, this man I mean, what can he expect? I was given a 10percent disability rating because I got fed up. I just got tired. I was a career man, yes, but I had been pushed to my limits. When you are in Vietnam you are keyed to a point you are like a precision machine. People turn your starter on and you function until the time they say stop, then you go to rest. When I came back they sent me to a base that was so relaxed a GI didn't have to shine his shoes anymore; there was no such thing. You could wear a uniform to fit anyone-most of them looked like garbage men. I just got tired. Like I said, they told me I couldn't go to Project Transition because they were the last NCO's. Why was two NCO's driving trucks in the same position? We were both placed in the same position but I couldn't be spared. And I got tired and I told him about it. I ran it down and they took me to the hospital and put me in a padded room and said, "This man is crazy." and that's how I got my 10-percent disability. Yet if I took it to the VA board and was to be reexamined I couldn't get the job I got now. That's how critical because they believe the whole timethey say "This man is a dope addict and he is crazy." Yet I have no needle marks, my blood tests and everything else have always proven clear. I have taken all types of aptitude tests and I have passed them all very successfully, never showing any signs of schizophrenia or any other mental disease.

Senator BUCKLEY. Mr. Izzard, going back to the schooling you had in the military, the turbine engine, electronics, and so on; I think you mentioned in answer to an earlier question that this was to train you about components of a particular aircraft, is this correct?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes, it is.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, was the training transferable to aviation generally speaking? Did you have a skill to be used on commercial aircraft?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes; in fact, I brought my form 214 to give you the civilian classification of it.

The CHAIRMAN. That is not a top secret document, is it?

Mr. IZZARD. I hope it is. They have six bravo which is senior aircraft repairman, and on the outside my related civilian occupation: is 621-131, aircraft maintenance repair.

The CHAIRMAN. In seeking jobs did you seek openings in the aviation industry?

Mr. IZZARD. Well, I've tried a few but aviation is just not what I really wanted to be in for the rest of my life.

Senator BUCKLEY. In seeking a job did you seek assistance from the Veterans' Administration?

Mr. IZZARD. Yes, I did.

Senator BUCKLEY. What was your experience there?

Mr. IZZARD. Well, on the first interview at the VA office, that is what I call it, the representative gave me a bunch of folders the first one he gave me, he says, "Now, you can become a sky marshal," which doesn't sound too exciting to me, and the second one he gave me, he said, "This will make you a better sky marshal." And the third one he gave me, he said, "This one is related to the occupation which you had in the military." He said, "Fill it out and take it down to the room and they will give you an evaluation back." Well, I took down the one that I had already had previous experience in, and, as I stated, I have not yet received my evaluation sheet. But I didn't discontinue going to the VA center just because I hadn't received my rating. And I went down there several times afterwards. In fact, my situation got so critical I took my two children and sent them to my mother-in-law's. My wife and I moved out of the home we were living in and I went to live with my mother and father because we could not-I'll put it this way, I could not provide a substantial income in order to keep my family together.

Now on the job I have, I am still living off my mother and father. I have not yet been able to pull my family back together.

Senator BUCKLEY. Did you seek any help from the District of Columbia?

Mr. IZZARD. No; at the time I knew the jobs were awfully tight here so I went to Virginia and I had a funny experience. The guy told me, he says, "Your background is terrific." He says, "How would you like to be a stock clerk?" I said, "I have done all types of paper clerking; I guess I could do this, too." He said, "Come back and see me in 2 weeks." I came back in 2 weeks; he said, "That's tough. Come back in another 2 weeks."

Senator BUCKLEY. Thank you very much.

The CHAIRMAN. One final question, Mr. Izzard. You testified about when you go into one of these interviews they give you that look "Have you got a hand grenade, gun, needle in your pocket or a bunch of pills in your coat pocket?" or what have you. Has this concern about the fact that GI's are narcotic addicts possibly-has this intensified in recent months? That is, there has been an enormous amount of publicity, especially in the last 2 or 3 months about how much narcotic addiction there is in Vietnam, for returning GI's that might be addicts and a lot of national TV shows and many newspaper articles written about it. Has this concern been the same since December 10? Do you anticipate that same problem or has it gotten worse when you go to job interviews the last 2 or 3 months?

Mr. IZZARD. I won't say whether or not it has gotten worse but it has been a critical point ever since it first begun because, like I say, it endangers every veteran coming back, regardless whether the man is alcoholic or is a drug addict.

The CHAIRMAN. Each GI is suspect whether or not he is or not, he is suspect.

Mr. IZZARD. You are suspect regardless; that is the way the public is. You can't change the majority of your employers, they are afraid.