If you truly supported our troops then how come 25 percent of the United States population that is homeless?

Question

are veterans? Am I missing something here?

Answer 1

The question isn't "Why doesn't anyone care?" The question is "Why don't people stand up and SHOUT?" Everyone knows there is a Veteran sleeping on a heat register within spitting distance to the White House, but no one wants or has the ability to step forward and fix it.....the government just cut $3 Billion dollars in aid to our soldiers through the V.A. They need to pay for bullets. We protected you now we need it returned!

Answer 2

It's all because that bastard GW Bush stole our supply of beans and franks!!!

Check your numbers and their sources. Consider:

What percentage of the non-homeless population (controlled for gender and age) are also veterans?

How are the authors of the '25% homeless vets' number determining veteran status? Do they check DD214s? Or is it good enough if the homeless guy says "I served with John Rambo in the Nam, Man."

I think you will find, if you answer those two questions, that the authors of that number were VERY creative.

Answer 3

Yes. You are missing something. No one, not the media reporting this story nor the organization originating this story, has ever checked to see if these "homeless vets" were in fact veterans of the armed forces in the first place.
I did a year as a VISTA volunteer dealing with the homeless in my community. Ran into a lot of "homeless vets" who were out and out liars! Most had never served one day. The rest had been thrown out of the service because they had disqualifying conditions or records prior to their entry.
We even had a case in Arizona where a guy received over twenty years of medical care from the VA (including nursing home care) and burial in a veterans cemetery. He had never served one day! They are in the process of disinterring the body of a man who was buried in a veterans cemetery on Long Island. He never served a day and is taking up the burial space of a guy who did. So, to paraphrase Cuba Gooding, Jr, from the movie: "Show me the papers!".

Answer 4

It's a terrible thing, but some of the homeless are people who were in mental hospitals that closed and their family ignored them. Same with the vets. I would imagine that they were there because of PTSD, and their family memembers forgot about them or made a new family in their abscence. I guess now why people are supporting the troops, like with more programs for disabled and etc... is they don't want history to repeat itself... or I'd like to think that's what the reason is.

Answer 5

There is no right answer to this question. Each homeless person has a different story, a different reason as to why they came to be homeless. In some cases they are not mentally stable, other times they feel safer on the streets than in shelters. Others may have had legal issues or falling outs with their families. For veterans, there could have been difficulties in receiving their benefits, or they may have suffered psychological traumas from war.
A lot of the newer homeless are a result of the gentrification of minority neighborhoods in the larger cities. When people move into and buy properties in these neighborhoods, they often times remodel the properties and increase the property values, which intern increases the property values in the neighborhood. The new modifications attract people with more money, they come in and buy more of the neighborhood up which drives up rent and forces people out -- often times with no money to move or relocate.
Its an unfortunate occurrence, especially considering the U.S. is one of the most riches countries in the world. We choose to spend billions of dollars on a needless war instead of investing it into bettering the lives of the citizens.
I have worked in the homeless shelters and food kitchens in D.C., along with many international volunteers who volunteer their time in our country to help those less fortunate. It was amazing.
I learned that the homeless are people, and often they feel as though we don't see them as people...when we pass them we try not to look at them, we pretend they are not there. A homeless person told my friend that they feel invisible, as though they are not people, that no one looks them in the eyes...
The homeless vary from being veterans to mothers to sisters to brothers to sons and daughters......cooks, hairdressers, construction workers to professors ( one homeless man had been a professor and lost his wife and two days later his daughter in accidents -- he lost his will to continue in the world - it lost meaning) --
People say they support the troops, and many do, but the circumstances that make veterans homeless, among other people, vary --- the real question is what are you going to do about it?

Answer 6

there is this one homeless man. he was a brilliant student in high school and then he went into the vietnam war. when he came back to the U.S., he was changed. he became homeless and never recovered from what i think are his wartime experiences. i think he's still around. i dont think his story is completely unique, since he never got over his problems and there are lots of veterans. btw this is a true story so i did not make this up.

Answer 7

It has nothing to do with public support for "the troops" and everything to do with a Veterans Administration that can't do it's job because of lack of funding and support for the last 50+ years.

If you're looking for someone to blame, go for every member of Congress back to the Korean War ("police action") and every president from "W" all the way back to at least Eisenhower, and prolly Truman too.

Answer 8

It is sad isn't it. What do you propose we do to help? The sad thing is that we don't have unlimited money to spend on people.

As a student there isn't much I feel I can do other than try to share my opinion. I did pick up a hitchhiker once, he had served in WWII on a ship and it was actually a very interesting ride (Although I was a bit nervous at first). He was outside the VA hospital and heading back to the same town as me, so I figured I should help him out. He did have a home (he lived with his son), but it was one of the most run down homes I have seen in town, and I felt so bad for him, but there wasn't really anything else I could do for him.

Answer 9

there are very successful veterans and there are homeless veterans just like there are successful civilians and homeless civilians.
at some point all of us have to take responsibility for our station in life and turn the pointing finger 180 degrees.

Answer 10

What exactly do you think should be done ?

Should all veterans be given a free house ?

Free life time rent ?

Should the government track every veteran, to make sure no one ever goes homeless ?

Exactly how is the government, supossed to know a veteran is homeless, unless that veteran, tells the VA ?