Nearly 2 million military veterans live in California, including about 244,000 who served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – a new, and younger generation that's driving a push for change.

"This is really ground zero for the new veterans movement," said Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, or IAVA, a national advocacy group, during a visit to Los Angeles. "But as we always emphasize, we think veterans are not a charity, they're an investment."

Though progress has been made on key issues – such as housing, employment and health care – much more needs to be done in order to meet the needs of veterans returning from abroad, said Rieckhoff. His group has seen the need for services nearly double in the past five years.

"We need folks to hold people accountable who are running for office and ask them not just to stand next to the American flag and people in uniform, but to provide better oversight of the VA, to push for more homelessness resources and to hold people accountable across government who fail to uphold that sacred trust," he said.