Associated Press – November 8, 2007:
Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.
And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.
After being discharged from the military, Jason Kelley, 23, of Tomahawk, Wis., who served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard, took a bus to Los Angeles looking for better job prospects and a new life.
Kelley said he couldn’t find a job because he didn’t have an apartment, and he couldn’t get an apartment because he didn’t have a job. He stayed in a $300-a-week motel until his money ran out, then moved into a shelter run by the group U.S. VETS in Inglewood, Calif. He’s since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.
“The only training I have is infantry training and there’s not really a need for that in the civilian world,” Kelley said
To quote Gomer Pyle, USMC: Well surprise, surprise, surprise…
The US government doesn’t take care of its own? Imagine that. It’s why I don’t understand blind patriotism. This nation’s government does not, as a rule, concern itself with the well being of those who have made sacrifices for it. It doesn’t really concern itself with the well being of anyone, for that matter…
OFTLO:
Not true, they are concerned with the well being of their ‘donors’ (lobbyists, corporations, etc.)
J/P=?
If the government (local, state or federal) was a person they would be a psychopath. You should feel free to serve a psychopath just don’t expect any thanks or empathy or loyalty.
There must be more to this then what it appears as statistics can be deceiving.
One might start with the people who join the armed forces. What is there mental condition, aptitude for stable work etc.
Say for argument there is a significant number of the people in the armed forces who could not do anything else so that is why they joined there would be no surprise that they still could not do anything outside of the service.
There must be a complete statistical analysis before one starts to point the finger in a half-assed manner.
Cheers
PS – Now in the US from Brazil, India and Turkey and what an eye opener for us – on the TV – drug, lawyer and Jesus ads! đ My sister doesn’t notice it as she lives in the US but for someone who isn’t exposed to it comes to the US it is really entertaining and scary at the same time.
I am glad I got out when I did. I went to basic training because I was worried about having money for college. Man do they dick you around esp. the GI bill.. Lucky I was considered “undeportable” and got out on a general discharge ( never finished training ) Let this country go to heck. This isn’t a country worth defending. Well not anymore, It used to. I think that’s where are so many historical specials on tv, why american history in schools always highlight the good and not the bad.
#4 has a good point
as far as i am concerned, anybody who signs up to get shot at on my behalf deserves to have whatever amount of my tax dollars it takes to ensure that he/she ain’t on the damn streets.
period.
i can’t believe the shame this nation tolerates in the name of penny-pinching.
#4 – Isnât one of the recruiting slogans of the military, that they will give you training for âlife on the outsideâ as well as in military âŚ
P.S. From experience 90% of their slogans are BS anywayâŚ
A total embarrassment. You would think after Vietnam this wouldn’t happen “again”. Life should be easy street for these guys for there ultimate sacrifice. Easy street for the rest of there lives.
They should get the salaries of these Blackwater guys. I’d be willing to pay more taxes.
There was a time, years after the Vietnam war, when there were 500,000 homeless vets in the U.S.
#7 I agree, unfortunately those who give the most end up getting the least
#4 There you go again, blaming the victim.
Hurricane Katrina: “The victims should have gotten in their fancy cars and driven out of the city before the hurricane. They shouldn’t have been living there anyway.”
The poor: “They are lazy and don’t want to work. It’s their own fault. They want to be poor.”
Homeless vets: “They were mental defects before they joined the military. Only mental defects enlist. People who are competent and capable do not join the military.”
Why do Repugnicans and other wingnuts always blame the victims? I guess the Chistian ethic of helping your fellow man doesn’t apply if you are a conservative.
that statistic was pulled completely out of their ass it was extrapolated from a non scientific study the whole story is hype and bs
#13, Paul,
It must be embarrassing to find your beloved leader has failed to provide for the veterans of this nation. For many years Viet Nam vets had a high proportion of homelessness. Shortly after the first wave of Iraq troops came back, we started hearing how they couldn’t find homes.
So when you claim this study is flawed, I wonder, is that what the right wing nut radio talk show hosts are all claiming?
#1
“The US government doesnât take care of its own?”
Sure they do, just look at how George W. Bush managed to put his buddies in key positions where qualified personnel was needed but instead some inexperienced cronies were placed instead, if the stupid democrats hadn’t made that much noise the great Harriet Myers would have made a stupendous Supreme Judge.
#13
“that statistic was pulled completely out of their ass it was extrapolated from a non scientific study the whole story is hype and bs”
Yeah sure, these stupid soldiers should have died when they had the chance.
I want to see some DD214’s. Walking around dressed in camo or BDUs proves nothing.
A homeless person who claims he got out over a year ago and is wearing military clothing is a liar (even military clothing wears out eventually). Same if he claims to have been discharged less than a year ago, but has too much hair or long whiskers growing on his throat.
There’s a lot of free loaders around, pretending to be vets so they can try for sympathy and a handout. So many that there are websites people can go to and verify someone’s veteran status.
These fake vets tilt the “statistics”, and destroy credibility.
#5 – This isnât a country worth defending.
Yes it is. This is not an administration worth defending. We have a consumerist culture in need of re-thinking. We have a Constitution worth restoring.
We talk a lot about freedom in this country. But these days the only freedom we really see the most is the freedom for the strongest to bulldoze over the weakest. We need to make compassion a national ethic.
It’s all worth fighting for… though not necessarily with guns.
#9 – Iâd be willing to pay more taxes.
Not me… Rather I’d want to slash and burn through the vast amounts of waste to find the money… Imagine if we didn’t change our tax rates at all, but we efficiently allocated those monies to worthwhile ends. Infrastructure, a sound medical policy, scientific R&D, education, and things that bring value to our nation – including caring for those whose sacrifices are the greatest.
#12 – Why do Repugnicans and other wingnuts always blame the victims?
Republicans, who chant the mantra of “personal responsibility” over and over… are the last to take any. They cut student load programs and blame the poor for not going to college. They withhold health care from working single mothers and blame them for quiting low-wage jobs with no benefits to get government benefits (which in reality, they don’t actually do, so its just a red herring anyway). They blame an increasingly obese nation for being fat but they own international food conglomerates that pump out almost nothing but cheap crap based on corn starch and jack up the costs of healthy whole foods.
I’d take their notion of “personal responsibility” more seriously if I ever saw them take any of it for themselves.
#13 – that statistic was pulled completely out of their ass
I’ll bet you say that to all the liberals.
When I see some guy at an on-ramp with a sign that says “Homeless Veteran” I am often skeptical. It seems like every other bum is a vet.
If they a really are all veterans, then I have to wonder if boot camp beats the independent coping skills out of people.
I don’t know if this story and the study is true but there are a lot of homeless Vets. I know in my local area their is a program setup for Vets at a local Homeless shelter. Most of the time the shelter is full and their is a waiting list to get in. You would be surprised how fast your life can go into the toilet in a years time. I am Vet and have been were these guys have been and with out the help of family I would have been homeless.
What percentage of the adult population is veterans?
#19 – Do those shelters verify veteran status? I bet not, it mean the shelter had fewer people in it, and more clients mean more money and more status.
You will not hear that from the workers there. The workers get told that checking veteran status would “alienate” the clients, “make them think we don’t trust them”, and “it’s cruel to question them that way”.
/shrug
#21, Phillep
It is so much easier to just deny there is a problem then it is to do something to fix it.
Conservatives are such cowards… it’s always easier to attack victims than to attack the problems the create victims.
Mustard, I am a veteran. This “veterans are more prone to be losers and nuts” is an insult to me and to all veterans.
Run those polls again, and this time verify veteran status.
Right Mustard… You can’t judge all veterans by Phillep’s posts!
My youngest son is thinking of joining the military. Why? Because he doesn’t know what else to do. He’s jacked around in school, is immature, and has no idea what he should do with his life. He’s not a bad kid, he’s just lazy and immature.
With these skill sets, it’s hard to find a job. But, you can be trained to kill. The military is always hiring. It wouldn’t be all bad, he would mature a lot, if he doesn’t get killed. Being a teenager, he doesn’t think that can happen to him.
And then there’s the whole moral issue of occupying foreign countries for political and profit reasons, and the killing that goes with it. Is it really a surprise that the US doesn’t take care of their soldiers? Look how they’re used? They’re a tool to be used for the state’s benefit. They’re hardly ever used for defensive reasons today.
All that said, there is a demand for infantry in civilian life. The cops are more like the military today then they are like cops. I’m sure he could be hired for riot control and turned lose to bash some heads in. LA or Boston must have some openings.