why are there so many homeless veterans?

Answer 1

Many soldiers when faced with the realities of war have a hard time rejoining socieity. (That is part of why VFW halls were created. To give veterans a place to belong... to help them socialize, as well as help them rejoin life here in the states.)

Those who have been forced to kill others, to see the deaths first hand day in and day out, are left with serious mental issues, that many VA hospitals and doctors have a hard time assessing and properly treating.

Shell Shock, later known as post traumatic stress disorder, leaves many veterans with serious mental disorders that make it hard for some to hold down jobs, have families, or lead normal lives... Symptoms such as "headaches, backaches, inability to relax, shaking and tremors, sweating, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal distress, frequency of urination, urinary incontinence, palpitations, hyperventilation, dizziness, insomnia, nightmares, restless sleep, excessive sleep, excessive startle, hypervigilance, heightened sense of threat, anxiety, irritability, depression, substance abuse, loss of adaptability, suicidality and disruptive behaviour. Loss of beliefs, mistrust, confusion, and extreme feeling of losing control." are all well documented.

Dissociation is another common symptom: "Dissociation is another "defense" that includes a variety of symptoms including feelings of depersonalization and derealization, disconnection between memory and affect so that the person is "in another world," and in extreme forms can involve apparent multiple personalities and acting without any memory ("losing time")."


These people give their lives and their sanity to protect our freedoms and defend our country. They deserve to have the best medical care we can offer, including proper treatments for mental disorders.

Answer 2

That is such a lie and it was perpetuated by Dan Rather and other sensationalists that reported in the 80s that there were 3 to 4 million Americans that were homeless and one in three was a Vietnam Veteran.

A VA study later found that this "news" story was a complete fabrication. The average age of the homeless was 26 and the average Viet Nam vet was 43. Many studies on the homeless found that the actual number was closer to 350,000. Of that population they found that many claimed to be veterans but were infact imposters who used the sympathy of being a veteran as a scam.

There are homeless veterans folks but they are rare. The VA has special care and programs for them. What Lazywolf is saying is pure BS.

Answer 3

Many homeless veterans choose to be homeless. They drop out of society, and this is the easiest way of doing it. Many of the people suffer from the evils of war. Emotional instability or the in-ability to cope. They can no longer fit in, so the take the avenue of least resistance, homelessness !

Answer 4

If you are referring to the homemade "Homeless Veteran" cardboard sign guy's, I put the number at 99% are not. Walking the streets very often in SF I have asked what unit they were with, not one has ever been able to answer that simple question or what MOS they held. There is one guy I see all over town that has a big key ring and walks thru traffic asking for gas money pointing at a parked car claiming it is his. It's mostly BS.

Answer 5

Some are really not homeless at all! They just can't go home because they suffer from Post Traumatic Stress. They cannot deal with life on a daily basis. This was not recognized in the service men from the 1st, 2nd W.W.s & Korea, it was really not recoginzed until after Vietnam & then they didn't know how to treat it! It is a long slow process to get them ready to re-enter life at home.

Answer 6

Because most "Veterans Programs " are scams. The main objective is how many Social Workers and PhDs they can employ.
Even the VA. If you take out gravediggers, housekeepers, dishwashers, and Security thier percentage of Veterans hired sucks.

Answer 7

Have you seen their DD-2a4 forms to see what sort of service they performed and for how long? I did a year as a VISTA volunteer dealing with the homeless in my area. Most of the "homeless vets" I met couldn't give me proper answers regarding the units they served with, etc. When digging deeper I found most of them had mustered out before completing basic training.
In 1988, CBS news aired a documentary entitled "The Wall Within". Dan Rather interviewed seven guys whose health and lives had been screwed up by their being in combat in Vietnam. It won a lot of awards. Trouble is none of those guys was in Vietnam. One Navy vet had spent most of his hitch in the brig in the Philippines. He, at least, got close to Vietnam. The others had never left the States.
The simple fact is none of the reporters are checking these guys out before writing about them.

Answer 8

There arent. Thats transients trying get you to feel sorry for them so you give them more money. Most havent ever been affiliated with the military. Oh and they make more money off society when people think that they are helping homeless vets.

Answer 9

some choose to live free with out the headache that goes along with living in a neighborhood, some are not veterans, some can not adjust to living the way people want them to.

Answer 10

I'm a vet. I have bought and sold 5 homes making money on each. I guess it's because when I was discharged I found a job