The failing economy isn’t helping, either.
New Generation Of Homeless Vets Emerges
For as long as the United States has sent its young men _ and later its young women _ off to war, it has watched as a segment of them come home and lose the battle with their own memories, their own scars, and wind up without homes.
[…]
[M]ost publicly and perhaps most painfully, there was Vietnam: Tens of thousands of war-weary veterans, infamously rejected or forgotten by many of their own fellow citizens.Now it is happening again, in small but growing numbers.
[…]
Mental illness, financial troubles and difficulty in finding affordable housing are generally accepted as the three primary causes of homelessness among veterans, and in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, the first has raised particular concern.Iraq veterans are less likely to have substance abuse problems but more likely to suffer mental illness, particularly post-traumatic stress, according to the Veterans Administration. And that stress by itself can trigger substance abuse.
Some advocates say there are also some factors particular to the Iraq war, like multiple deployments and the proliferation of improvised explosive devices, that could be pulling an early trigger on stress disorders that can lead to homelessness.
Can’t wait for the “Born on the Forth of July – Re-loaded” movie.
Cheers
Were there any WWI, WWII, Korean vets becoming homeless people?
I can understand the problem with Vietnam vets seen as baby killers by the hippies and general public as it was an unpopular war (Gee wars need to be popular? – Oh yeah thats why there’s war marketing now so wars have cool names like Iraqi Freedom).
Iraq and Afghanistan vets are seen as heroes in the press and public so again was this something seen with WWII vets?
Sorry. I should of added that to my previous post but I hit the submit button just when I thought of this. 🙂
Cheers
Some 58k died in combat in Vietnam. In the 25 yrs after 1973 roughly 3 times the KIA rate committed suicide in civilian life. It is quite an interesting phenomenon. For instance after WWII the solders that came back did not have the violence rate or suicide rate. Perhaps, it is an economical issue more than a cultural phenomenon. Whereas, in the 40’s into the 50’s the vets came home to an economic boom (also, compairingly the purchase rate of the USD). Also, it was largely considered taboo to talk about the war. Nowadays, war is less romantic and often times an immediate spectacle – hell, troop movements where broadcasted live on Fox news. The is of housing is a given for anyone who reads the daily rag.
This is what happens to you when you trust your country to do the right thing. If you want our service members taken care off don’t vote Republican.
—an ex-Republican
Agreed #6 Bush and co has cut funds for the VA in a time of “war” and many vets do not qualify for full benefits and it is shameful.
Only 365 days to go for regime change!!
What a horrible picture
Poor guy gave up his job and life for what – so asia and europe can have cheaper ( well at least not now imagine what it could be like otherwise) gas and oil so that they can flood america with imports / exports for them
They get the cheap oil , keep the jobs
What do we get – unemployed youth and wasted vetrans
some deal
Is anyone doing a follow up on these “homeless vets” and seeing how many of them are actual vets and not fakes?
Google “Stolen Valor”.
Fake veterans have been caught trying to get sympathy, free beer, votes, free housing, free tuition, and veteran benefits. Others, such as Jesse McBeth and Micah Wright, have used fake claims for political purposes.
A few actual vets, John Kerry as an example, have simply lied about what they did in combat (“Christmas in Cambodia” “seared in my mind” ring any bells?) and repeated the lies told by other fakes to lend credence to their political positions, or for their own amusement (or for free beer at the local bar).
This is all well documented. You cannot count someone as a veteran without seeing his DD2214. And I’d still suggest getting that DD Form 214 verified with the fedgov.
Trouble is we fight foolish wars and unfortunately our service people lose the most because of them. I bet the terrorist are laughing about how much damage they have done to our economy and how many Americans they have killed without even stepping on American soil. I’ll tell you a terrorists threatens to fart near a oil well and oil goes up $10. How easy can it be.
9,
What are you trying to accomplish with your bullshit straw-man argument? Abuse in the system does not explain away neglect and idiotic administration policy detrimental to real dd214-carrying vets.
When my Dad was a kid he had an Uncle who was “Shell Shocked” from WWI (they would call that PTSD nowadays). The Uncle probably couldn’t have taken care of himself so he moved around among family and was provided for. Times are different now and a lot of families don’t take care of their own, Of course there probably were a lot who didn’t then too. Government help in those days was probably Zer0. I believe they staged a big march on D.C. in the 30’s before anything began to change on the governments end.
More hating the military. We just saw the The New York Times crash and burn with an article accusing the military of turning vets into crazed killers. Now we get this from Dvorak Uncensored.
Mike N–how is caring about the VEts and lamenting the poor healthcare injured vets are getting an attack on the military?
Oh–sorry. You are exactly right. I forgot in your lexicon that “Support the Troops” actually means support BushCo and STFU.
#3
“Were there any WWI, WWII, Korean vets becoming homeless people?”
Yes, when I was homeless in the 90’s I met Korean and Name vets that were still homeless and trying to catch a break. There was Korean vet that clearly remembered two guys that were from WWII.
This is not unsual. After many wars vets would be left out in the cold. Even Civil War vets had to march on Washington from time to time JUST
to get pensions. Without them they too would have been homeless.
#4
“For instance after WWII the solders that came back did not have the violence rate”
Violence rate? Two words:
DOMESTIC DISPUTE
WWII vets invented the term!
Cursor_
#11, I am a Viet Nam _era_ vet with a service related disability. Service number B8783nn (the last two digits are none of your business). I served in Charleston, Jax, and Iceland. I am familiar with the problems outlined and some of the services provided, and know people who actually do need the services provided, plus some that need more than what is available.
I am also familiar with the fakes, frauds, and con artists pretending to be disabled vets, stealing services and resources from those who actually need them.
Google “Stolen Valor”.
16,
So? How does that address this isue in any intelligent way? Fraud does not give us an excuse to implement anti-soldier veteran policies.
You may be a vet, but you’re a shill here. I’m a vet too but I don’t use it as a license to spout crap.
What is the real size of the problem?
Read the HuffPo article. “1500 identified” (as homeless, I assume), out of around a million? Consider civilians who lose their old jobs, are required to relocate, and have a major change in their personal acquaintences when between ages of 25 and 30 years old, and see what percentage of them fall into the same behavior, and consider how the “homeless vet” gets pampered because of how horrible his experiences were, thus delaying any healing he might need.
This is a scare article referencing something that was simply a lie: “Huge numbers of Viet Nam veterans were homeless because the war experience made them unable to care for themselves and hold a job.”
This was supported by what non-gov type “Social Service” organizations had to say about their clients.
These agencies typically prohibit examination of a client’s past “because it shows a lack of trust”.
Actually, checking is prohibited because the agency gets it’s funding and status based on the number of clients it has. Get rid of the fakes and the agency loses funding and status.
200K to 400K homeless vets per year from all wars according to VA.
Don’t let facts get in the way of caring for your fellow man.
http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm
(“Per year” suggests an increase or decrease; “counted each year” might be more like it.)
What are the percentages? How many of them were checked for DD214’s? The VA has prosecuted many people for fraudulant benifit claims, how many have not been checked?
How many 4 year college students who paid “out of state” tuition were “homeless” for some time in the 2 or 3 years after they graduated?
#16, Philleep,
A few actual vets, John Kerry as an example, have simply lied about what they did in combat (”Christmas in Cambodia” “seared in my mind” ring any bells?) and repeated the lies told by other fakes to lend credence to their political positions, or for their own amusement (or for free beer at the local bar).
This is all well documented. You cannot count someone as a veteran without seeing his DD2214. And I’d still suggest getting that DD Form 214 verified with the fedgov.
Yup, I agree. There are people out there exaggerating their service. The easiest way to tell is when they tell you they have some special aura or veracity simply because they are a vet. The fraudulent claim numbers? Very few. People that claim they ended up with a “disability” yet never mention their unit are usually the frauds.
So, do you have some documentation to back up your claims about Kerry? If it is well documented, you should have no problem finding it.
Ha! Nobody cares because the homeless vets are either black, hispanic or POOR white people.
#7
“Only 365 days to go for regime change!!”
Unless of course the winning Republican candidate promises the idiots living in the Bible belt that he will amend the constitution so that they will not be forced by law to treat gays & lesbians as equals. Bush Jr. proved that these imbeciles are willing to spend retirement living inside a cardboard box and rummaging the trash for aluminum cans just as long as they can continue their homophobic, holier than thou attitude.
#20–Phillep==can you possibly boil down the point you are trying to make?
Yes or No–we have too many homeless veterans and we should get them the shelter and healthcare they need, or do you disagree?
I say it’s hating the military in the context of stories written up to identify how shall we bash the war today? All because there is a Republican President leading it. I guess people ran out of stories about how badly the surge is going, or that it’s all because of ethnic cleansing or something like that.
I put it in context with the The New York Times story about vets are crazed killers, and the news wire story that said ,”As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch.”
No need to worry. Bill O’Reilly told us that there are hardly any homeless vets and he pledged to help any that are.
http://tinyurl.com/39lt8d
God bless Fox News.
# 24 MikeN said, … how shall we bash the war today? All because there is a Republican President leading it.
Get a grip. It’s not that at all.
It’s our PATRIOTIC DUTY to speak up when your leader HORRIBLY BUNGLES, wasting HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS and KILLING UNTOLD THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
… ONLY TO MAKE THE ‘WAR ON TERROR’ WORSE!
Philleep & MikeN,
What I don’t understand is how or why you can defend the actions of the current leaders running the show.
I put out the challenge before, I’ll do it again. Could someone name just ONE thing this President has done that has helped America become a better place?
Hey how about the $140bn the government wants to toss around goes instead to ALL veterans?
Seems like the thing to do!
Cheers
Well, there’s the war in Iraq. According to the CIA, it has helped shut down the Iranian nuclear program. So that’s 2/3 of the so called axis of evil, and Libya to boot.
Then again only Iraq on that list was an actual threat to America despite the endless Death to America chants.
#29, Mental Midget Mike N,
I asked for an example of something to that has helped America. I didn’t ask for an example of something that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, put America so deep in debt our great grandchildren will be paying for it, and has tarnished the reputation of America around the world.