Why are there so many homeless Vets in America?

Answer 1

Because alot of vets suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome that was never treated. Especially if you've never served in a war, just think about spending a good majority of your day being greatly concerned for your life. Being shot at repeatedly, or seeing your buddies' blown apart, or laying on the ground with their guts full of shrapnel. Or you and/or your buddies going through a meltdown and committing horrible war atrocities. Or watching innocent children and citizens being murdered in cold blood. Depending on your state of mind BEFORE you went to war, that kind of thing has GOT to stay with you!

Especially if a war vet has little or no support system after returning home, for a vet to end up homeless is very sad, but predictable. So many of us take our freedoms for granted. We need to remember that people have made great sacrifices for us to be able to enjoy those freedoms.

Answer 2

There are a lot of homeless people, some of them are vets. Many of the homeless people don't get along well with others so they can't find anyone who will take them in or they don't even want a home.

A lot of guys joined up because they couldn't find a job. Now that they are out, they still can't find a job.

Answer 3

well there is the over crowded VA and then there is a weird thing that people do they think that a vet is somehow different when they come home. those guys went through a lot and well the normal person on the street cannot even try to step into their shoes so they get ostracized from the community and end up on the streets. and then you also have people who are homeless that say they are vets when they are not. so really a bad situation

Answer 4

The crisis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is ignored by us as a society. The horror of signing up for what you believe to be a "noble" cause and then finding out you are reduced to a murderer for lousy pay is too much for a normal human mind.

They return to their hometowns with the ghosts of the things they have done while in a war raging in their heads while their old pals are "struggling" with which combo meal to order at Burger King. It's too surreal and many vets find they just don't fit in with people who have no clue what they have been through or what they have done. Besides, war-to the American Public is a spectator sport they can turn off with the click of a TV remote control.

Not so for the vets whose nightmare movie goes on 24-7 inside their heads and their hearts.

War and "soldiering" causes mental illness. We use these people and then toss them out on our streets when we're done using them for human shields and hired killers. It's sick.

Answer 5

Homelessness is caused by a number of factors, but generally it can be attributed to health issues, economic issues and lack of affordable housing – or any combination of these.

* In addition to the complex problems associated with all homelessness – extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to health care – a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks. Military occupations and training are often not transferable to the civilian workforce, placing some veterans at a disadvantage when competing for employment.

* Adding to the difficulties of veterans in crisis is the misconception that the VA takes care of all veterans in need. According to the VA’s 1997 CHALENG Report, in the years since it "began responding to the special needs of homeless veterans, its homeless treatment and assistance network has developed into the nation’s largest provider of homeless services, serving more than 100,000 veterans annually." With more than 500,000 veterans experiencing homelessness at some time during the year, VA programs reach about 20 percent of those in need ... leaving 400,000 veterans in need of supportive services.

* While "most homeless people are single, unaffiliated men … most housing money in existing federal homelessness programs is devoted to helping homeless families or homeless women with dependant children," according to "Is Homelessness a Housing Problem?" in Understanding Homelessness: New Policy and Research Perspectives published by the Fannie Mae Foundation, 1997.

Answer 6

a lot of them suffer from metal illness after being in Nam and have problems with drugs and the bottle.

check out the Veterns FIRST program in NH for homeless Vets
at www.harborhomes.org

Answer 7

Because of the lack of resources to deal with vets who have PTSD and have turned to drugs and drinking to get away from their troubles. Nowadays, we can help people with that problem but during the Nam' era, veterans didn't have that option. People could've cared less.

Answer 8

Many Vets have mental problems and with overcrowding at our nations Veterans hospitals,and budget cuts,many are just told to leave to make it on their own.

Answer 9

Well there are far more Veterans with homes than Veterans with no homes, but if you think about it, they are home, and very proud. The ones you see on the roads with I need food signs are probably imposters. Thanks to the honorable Veterans of the United States of America, I will sleep tonight!

Answer 10

Because the govt promises the sun, moon & stars in benefits and after they've drained the last drop of blood out, the govt discards them like yesterday's trash...! If you've been in the military, you already know the answer to that one...