For a member of the military returning from the service, the idea of choosing where to live may be a bit novel. To help with the decision, Military Times released a list naming the best small, medium and large cities for veterans in the U.S.

To compile the list, Military Times reported that it considered where the cities finished in its other rankings, including universities, employers, technical colleges and law enforcement agencies. Nearly 600 cities were considered and 75 made the cut, 25 in each of the three categories. 

According to the final ranking, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Colorado Springs, Colorado; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma comprised the top five large cities in the country for veterans.

San Diego's educational opportunities were one of the main reasons that it edged out competitors, Military Times reported. Both the University of San Diego and San Diego State University made it on the list of best colleges for vets in 2015. 

"It's a very attractive climate. It's a very cosmopolitan city," said Jack Harkins, chairman of the United Veterans Council of San Diego County. "Many, many excellent colleges and universities in the area."

Veterans may also enjoy catching a baseball game in the city. Every Sunday when playing at home, the San Diego Padres wear camouflage uniforms to pay tribute to members of the armed forces, the franchise reported.  

For those who favor small-town life, Military Times recommended Glen Burnie, Maryland; Bethesda, Maryland; Ellicott City, Maryland; Camarillo, California and Yorba Linda, California Ellicot and Camarillo both boast veteran unemployment rates of under 4 percent, and in Bethesda the median income for a veteran is $97,472, the list reported. 

In a few short years, Danielle Green transitioned from the role of a successful college basketball player to an amputee learning how to perform the tasks of daily life without her dominant arm. Next month she will be recognized for her spirit, bravery and patriotism in serving her country both during and after her time with the military. 

On July 15, Green, an Army veteran, will become the second recipient of the Pat Tillman Award for Service. The award will be presented at next month's ESPY Awards ceremony, where the best sports moments and personalities of the year will be recognized. 

Green grew up in the South Side of Chicago and attended Notre Dame on a basketball scholarship, The Associated Press reported. After graduation she taught and coached basketball briefly before joining the Army. While serving in Iraq she lost her left arm, the result of a rocket-powered grenade attack.

According to the Army Times, Green was medically retired from the service seven months after her injury and went back to school to earn a master's degree in counseling. Today she works as a readjustment therapist in Indiana at the South Bend Veterans Center, helping other former military members adjust to life after service. 

"I think her journey has been quite amazing," said Marie Tillman, the widow of Pat Tillman. "As a college athlete she could have done a wide variety of things, and she chose to serve her country. Certainly that is right in line with how Pat lived his life and the spirit of the award."

Pat Tillman was a professional football player with the Arizona Cardinals before he left to enlist in the Army in 2002. He was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan in 2004. Green was injured a month after his death while working a security detail, AP reported. 

"Pat Tillman was an extraordinary human being," Green told the Military Times. "So I just feel honored and grateful to be part of his legacy."

Last year Afghanistan war veteran Josh Sweeney was selected as the first recipient of the Tillman Award, the Army Times reported. Sweeney is a Paralympian who played on the U.S.'s gold medal sled hockey team. 

When soldiers come back from service, they come equipped with a number of skills and experiences that set them up well for entrepreneurial careers. However, they often lack the formal training necessary to start a small business. 

Thanks to a recent grant, a startup incubator focused on veterans wants to create a training program that would equip former members of the military to create and operate their own business in their life after service.  

The Bunker is a program run by veterans that seeks to aid other former servicemen in their entrepreneurial ventures. With a $127,000 grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation, CEO Todd Connor, a Navy veteran, wants to design a program called Bunker in a Box that will help train veterans who may never have imagined starting their own business, the Chicago Tribune reported.

According to the Tribune, Connor's idea is for the program to be a 14-week course that former servicemembers can go through with other veterans in their community. The group would meet once a week for about three hours and go through activities, videos and self-assessments that would equip them with the vocabulary and concepts to start their own entrepreneurial venture. Some of the grant will be used to create a website for the program and possibly a mobile app. 

"What I hope the real output is that whole populations of people that were not otherwise considering the idea of self-employment actually have confidence to pursue entrepreneurship as a course of action," Connor told the Tribune.

Connor expects Bunker in a Box to launch in November, the Tribune reported. 

The transition from military service to civilian life is one that can take a lot of time and effort to adapt to. This is why there are many programs emerging that focus on assisting veterans as they enter into life after service. 

Aquarium program supports veterans
According to 5News Online, one program at the Georgia Aquarium is offering retired servicemembers a unique opportunity to find some peace and serenity as they adapt to civilian life again. 

Started in 2008, the Veterans Immersion Program allows veterans to get up close and personal with thousands of rare sea creatures. The Discovery Channel explained that all retired military members are welcome to explore the 6.3 million-gallon home where some of the aquarium's most popular animals, including whale sharks and sting rays, reside. 

Conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and debilitating physical injuries can take a serious toll on veterans' lives. So far, more than 1,000 veterans have taken part in the program, hoping to find the peace of mind and relaxation that have been lacking from their lives since deployment.

Unique therapy soothes deepest injuries
Susan Oglesby, the program's certified therapeutic recreation specialist, explained that the program is a unique form of therapy that takes servicemembers' minds off of their troubles and challenges them to try something outside of their comfort zones. The goal is to encourage participants to let go of their daily stresses in the midst of beautiful animals.

The key is that they are relaxing, but in an environment they cannot control, which influences them to let go of aspects of life that are causing them anxiety, added Oglesby. Simply achieving feelings of peace is something that she hopes will become a part of their memories, which they can return to during stressful situations in the future. 

Certified dive instructors enter the water with the participants after providing them with essential instructions. Although the veterans are prohibited from touching the animals, the opportunity to see them up close in their aquatic world is enough to have an effect on them. 

"It is a no-touch event," Oglesby told the Discovery Channel. "However, making eye contact with a 20-foot whale shark or a 12-foot manta ray or any other of the almost 5,000 animals is a crazy-cool interaction in itself!"

One veteran who recently tried the therapy mentioned to the news source that the experience had a comforting impact, even on his deepest injuries. The participant also noted that he saw the same reaction from those around him participating in the therapy. 

Everyone finds healing in a different way. This month, veterans in Chicago have been using art to not only heal from their service during wartime, but to share those experiences with others. 

On Friday, June 12, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will host the CreatiVets Final Exhibition, an exhibit that will showcase the artwork of veterans. The show is a culmination of a three-week course where the participants studied different mediums of art and used these resources to express their experience, the SAIC reported.

The program was cosponsored by CreatiVets, a nonprofit that encourages veterans to use art, music and writing to find healing. After years of struggling with depression, anxiety and stress after returning from Iraq, Marine veteran Richard Casper found that playing guitar and creating with clay were his most effective forms of relief. He founded CreatiVets in the fall of 2013 to try to give other veterans the same therapy that he had found successful.

In addition to giving the veterans a therapeutic technique for expression and healing, the three-week course also connected them with others who have been through similar experiences, a form of healing in and of itself. 

"Everybody's sharing so much information on way of life and struggles that we have in common," Marine veteran Eugene Soto told DNAinfo Chicago. "It's a lot easier to work with other veterans."

Soto is working on a plaster piece about a friend who died after being wounded in Iraq, DNAinfo Chicago reported. 

"Just being there with him, and just hearing his last words, that's something that's always been with me," Soto said. 

The exhibition will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the SAIC's LeRoy Neiman Center. 

Though the number of women in the military is on the rise, many female veterans still have trouble obtaining the resources that they need once they return from service. A new campaign by the Department of Veterans Affairs aims to address that problem. 

On June 2, the VA announced a nationwide series of one-day events that will serve to raise awareness while celebrating the stories of female veterans. The events will provide an overview of the benefits and services available to women vets and provide experts to answer related questions. Staff members from the VA and local agencies that aid veterans will also be in attendance. 

The events are part of a national campaign launched by the VA in March 2015 entitled "Women Veterans: Celebrating Our Stories of Service," and will be held in St. Petersburg, Florida (June 12), San Diego, California (July 10), Houston, Texas (Aug. 7), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota (Sept. 14) and Washington, D.C. (Sept. 22). 

"We have found that our women veterans often put the needs of others first," said Elisa Basnight, director of VA's Center for Women Veterans. "We encourage them to make themselves a priority, to learn about the benefits and services which they've earned through their dedicated service. We are bringing our experts to them, where they are." 

A report released in 2014 by the Disabled American Veterans showed that serious gender gaps existed in nearly every service provided to veterans, The Associated Press reported. 

The VA hopes that the campaign will start conversations about what can be done to better meet the needs of female veterans in the U.S. 

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a debilitating mental condition that impacts the lives of many retired servicemembers. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 11-20 percent of veterans who served in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom experience PTSD in a given year. 

The PTSD Foundation of America noted that nearly 40 percent of those affected by the condition do not seek the help they need. Reaching out to the servicemembers in need of assistance with enhanced therapy methods is important to reducing the impact that PTSD has on the veteran population.

New stress reliever for PTSD
ABC 57 News explained that Tammy Stackhouse opened Magical Meadows Therapeutic Horseback Riding Center in Warsaw, Indiana, to children and adults with special needs seven years ago. She wanted to create a place where people could find themselves through their connection with the horses. 

This year was the first time that the ranch was opened to veterans as a sanctuary where they could leave behind their PTSD symptoms. The horses and the natural beauty of the farm help veterans to enjoy the simple aspects of life in order to fully relax. All retired servicemembers can sign up to use the horses free of charge. 

"[They] have therapy that helps them recover from their visible and invisible battle wounds that they might have suffered while they have served our country," Stackhouse told ABC 57 News.

The ranch plans to hold a Flag Day celebration on June 14 in honor of the country's veterans. 

Vets find companionship in horses
Ted Grubbs, an Army Reserve veteran, has been relying on the horses as therapy. He told ABC 57 News that life after service can be lonely and that the horses have served as companions during difficult times.

"When you get released into civilian world, you lose your battle buddy," he told ABC 57 News. "Your battle buddy is the guy to the left and right of you who you can always count on."

Grubbs was afraid of Sebastian, one of the horses, when he first started the therapy. Riding him made Grubbs extremely uneasy. However, the two are now good friends. 

"He's my bud now, I love him to death," he told the news source.

Sebastian has helped Grubbs overcome the negative effects that the war had on him, providing him with a chance to relax and think about other things, a task that can be challenging after returning to civilian life.

Homelessness is a major problem that military veterans often face during life after service. In fact, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 49,933 veterans are homeless in the U.S. on any given night. 

Most of these retired servicemembers do not receive the support they need to overcome homelessness, as Veterans Affairs can only manage to take care of approximately 150,000 of these veterans a year. To change this, three Cabinet members visited Tucson, Arizona, to establish strategies to end homelessness for military veterans. 

Cabinet members work to end veteran homelessness 
According to the Tucson Sentinel, the secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Labor, Robert McDonald, Julian Castro and Thomas Perez, traveled to Tucson to meet with local veterans who had been homeless upon returning from service. Tucson in particular has had a lot of success with fighting the issues of veteran homelessness. 

The three Cabinet members also connected with Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. The group discussed the importance of serving military veterans who have spent years sacrificing their lives to serve their country. 

"By adopting policies like Housing First, by championing the kind of collaboration that this employment center is right at the heart of, they are making the end of veteran homelessness something that is within reach," Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro told Tucson News Now.

At the Pima County Employment Center, the secretaries heard from local veterans who discussed some of the most significant challenges after deployment, some of which were the greatest obstacles they have ever had to face in their lives. However, many have gone on to become college graduates and start full-time jobs, thanks to the support of their city. 

What are the biggest obstacles?
To help retired servicemembers begin making money, the first step is preparing them for the job hunting process. Art Burrola, the program coordinator at Kino Veteran's Work Center, explained to Tucson News Now that job training and placement is the biggest obstacle the center faces. 

The Kino Veteran's Work Center's large funding program, which the city relied on to help find veterans jobs, dried up a few months ago, making the process even more challenging. The program was responsible for providing around $8 million for local employment and training. 

Success stories
Tucson News Now noted that Brenda Hunter was one of the many veterans who benefited from the program's funding. She was in the Marine Corps for over four years. While serving, her home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. She found herself in Tucson, where she remained homeless until she located the veteran services program at Kino. 

"I graduated from Pima recently with an associate degree in science in computer network. Without these services, I probably would have ended up dead," she said.

Another success story is Cliff Wade, who ended up spending time in prison after retirement, according to the news source. However, the program saved him, pushing him to get an education and join the fight to help his fellow homeless veterans with Old Pueblo Community Services. Although there are plenty of people working to improve the lives for homeless veterans, Wade pointed out that it is still a work in progress.

"It's not an overnight fix, we don't have enough housing, of course we can work to get more. Funding is key, case management is key. Homeless into housing, majority can't do it without case management," Wade explained to Tucson News Now.

After hearing these stories, the secretaries traveled to Las Vegas to continue their quest to learn more about the issue of veteran homelessness and how to solve it. 

Army Pvt. Henry Johnson and Army Sgt. William Shemin may be gone, but their service to this country is not forgotten. 

On June 2, President Obama awarded the two men the Medal of Honor posthumously for their heroic actions during World War I.  

According to the LA Times, Johnson served in the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all-black unit, where he was lauded for his bravery when he prevented German soldiers from capturing himself and an injured companion during a nighttime attack. This included engaging in hand-to-hand combat after his gun jammed. He was honored by the French government, but was not recognized at home. 

Shemin was a rifleman in Company G, 47th Infantry Regiment, who exposed himself to heavy enemy fire in France to rescue wounded soldiers, and then took command of his platoon when the commanding officers were killed, the White House reported. The award was accepted by his daughter, Elsie Shemin-Roth.

"It has taken a long time for Henry Johnson and William Shemin to receive the recognition they deserve, and there are surely others whose heroism is still unacknowledged and uncelebrated," Obama said at the ceremony. "So we have work to do, as a nation, to make sure all our heroes' stories are told."

The Medal of Honor is awarded to military members who go above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in action, displaying conduct that involves great self-sacrifice or personal bravery while risking their life. The White House reported that there must be incontestable proof to these merit-worthy actions. 

While the White House did not give a reason for the delay in awarding the Medals of Honor, Newsweek reported that many believe it to be the result of racism, as Johnson was black and Shemin was Jewish. 

In his speech, President Obama stated that awarding these men righted a great wrong. 

Despite their heroic actions and sacrifices, veterans across the U.S. are still in need of care and service on the home front. A new campaign this summer seeks to remind the U.S. that volunteering with veteran associations is a great way to thank former members of the military for their service.  

On May 26, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced a nationwide initiative aimed at increasing the number of volunteers assisting veterans. Titled "Summer of Service," the campaign seeks to remind citizens of the country's duty to its former military members, the VA reported. 

"We are asking Americans everywhere to join the Summer of Service and help us give back to those who have given so much to our nation, " said Robert A. McDonald, the secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

According to a blog by the VA, the goal of the initiative is 100,000 volunteers by August. Volunteers can sign up with their local veteran organizations, or on the VA's website.