War vet fulfills dream, opens pizza shop

Wallingford, conn. (WTNH) - Many service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan say finding a job is not so easy, so one Wallingford man thought outside of the box to get back on his feet.

An Iraq war vet, Pablo Atehortua struggled to find permanent employment since getting out of the Army four years ago.

"Everything was so hard," he said. "The economy went down. It was hard at the beginning,  just part time jobs, but now everything I think is getting better."

After a lot of work and help from Little Caesars Veterans Program , Atehortua is now putting the finishing touches on his new restaurant, a Little Caesars pizza franchise on Route 5 in Wallingford.

"It's perfect," he said. "It's been a dream of mine, like everyone else who wants to open their own business. It's great news."

He gets to share his dream by providing employment for 50 people.

"A lot of them have resumes, recommendation letters, really good," his wife Beatrice Posada said.

"If you have good people to help you everything can work out," Atehortua said.

It's hard to believe the construction scene will turn into an open Little Caesars in a couple of weeks, but it will. Their goal is to get this up and running just in time for Super Bowl Sunday.