1 in 4 Homeless are Vets

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via: CNN

More than 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States are military veterans, although they represent 11 percent of the civilian adult population, according to a new report. On any given night last year, nearly 196,000 veterans slept on the street, in a shelter or in transitional housing, the study by the Homelessness Research Institute found.

“Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people,” the report said. “This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more likely to be employed and have a lower poverty rate than the general population.”

Here is another article on this at Yahoo News.

Crooks and Liars brings up some important points:

The human toll of the Iraq disaster is piling up around us and our liberal media is all too happy to sweep these unfortunate souls under the rug. These soldiers, many of whom suffer from one form of mental issue or another, return home to find they have difficulty settling back into their families, leading to divorce (nearly 60,000 divorces from the Iraq conflict alone) which, in many cases, leads them down the path to homelessness.

This is a crisis of epic proportions that is only going to grow as the wars expand (if Cheney has his way), and as our soldiers start coming back home, and the effects become more and more apparent. Many symptoms of PTSD don’t show up for some time after soldiers return; sometimes years. The number of soldiers with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) is enormous, greater than any other war in the past. This is going to be a huge concern for years to come and many soldiers may require long term care. The cost will be enormous.

This is an article (a study) that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine:

(Excerpt): Most adults with a mild TBI recover completely within a year, but moderate and severe TBIs are more likely to cause lingering effects. An estimated 5.3 million Americans are living with disabilities that resulted from TBIs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Warden said many patients with such injuries who are treated at Walter Reed are able to return to active duty; others retire from the military and receive medical disability payments. The Department of Veterans Affairs is now planning for the large influx of veterans with TBIs from the current conflicts who will need continuing care during the coming years. “These are people who are going back into our communities all across the country, who are potentially going to be struggling,” said Warden. “Keep in mind, these patients, because of the nature of their brain injuries, can be the ones at highest risk of falling through the cracks.”

Will America take care of their soldiers as they deserve, honoring their service and dedication? Are they preparing for those costs now?

I read this story last month:

“Anderson’s orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.
Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.”

I heard another veteran phone in to a radio show yesterday and talk about this practice on the part of the military as not being new. It had happened to him not once, but twice – on two separate tours. He came home a day short of his benefits, and then they sent him right back – only to bring him home again aday short of his benefits. He was with the Guard. He was really angry.

It certainly seems like an example of false advertising. The military promises these young men benefits in exchange for them putting their lives on the line for their country as long as they work X-amount of days. Then, they send them home one day early so they don’t have to follow through with their promises. Yet, they turn around and send them back again, only to run the scam over again? That is disgraceful, shameful, and should be illegal. If this is how they are treating our soldiers who come home uninjured, how are the injured soldiers being treated? Where are all those HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars going? And, where is the accounting (and accountability)?

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Filed under International - Afghanistan, International - Iraq, Military, Military - Veterans, PO(TU)S - George W. Bush, Society - Health Care, VPOTUS - Richard B. Cheney

Tags: nwmuse @ TPZoo