In New York City, dozens of U.S. military veterans marched to Zuccotti Park on Wednesday in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Standing in front of the New York Stock Exchange, the veterans read a statement underscoring the oath they took to defend the Constitution and declaring themselves supporters of the Occupy movement. A number of the veterans expressed that they were motivated by Scott Olsen, the U.S. Marine veteran who was critically injured protesting in Oakland last Tuesday after police fired tear gas canisters into the crowd. Iraq War veteran Eli Wright described the conditions servicemembers face when they return to the states.

Eli Wright, Iraq War veteran: “Veterans are coming home and finding that we don’t have access to proper medical care, we don’t have access to jobs. We’re having a difficult time getting the educational benefits that we were promised and that we served for. So, you know, I’m worried about how I’m going to feed my daughter and how I’m going to put her through college. So I’m basically here with everybody else, marching for economic justice for all of us.”