Veterans Day

[Kerry502]

Today is Veterans Day and all around town American flags are flying and a ceremony downtown will honor the men and women who have served and are serving in the U.S. military. That's great. We support our veterans. Everyone wants to support our troops.

This morning on Veterans Day I read an article about the number of homeless U.S. veterans -- 154,000 according to an estimate by the Veterans Administration and 5% of them are female. Let that sink in a minute -- 154,000 American military veterans are homeless and 7,000 of them are women!

That is a disgrace.

Why are so many veterans homeless? Drugs, alcohol, personal choice to live on the streets? These are the main reasons the rest of us don't feel guilty because we don't care about the homeless -- It's their own fault. But veterans? Is it really their fault? Or does the system of "support" we have for veterans stop once they return from combat?

The reasons military veterans become homeless are varied, but include loss of their civilian jobs for reservists due to repeated deployments, or the inability to find a job once they finish their military service. The mental effects of combat, such as post traumatic stress disorder, can make readjustment to civilian life difficult and damage family and personal relationships. Depression and withdrawal often follow which make finding employment more difficult.

Why don't veterans seek help? The Veterans Administration is a exercise in futility. It is underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed by the number of veterans seeking assistance. It needs money, plain and simple. Herein lies the rub. Americans don't like giving the government money to increase programs. Big government is bad, etc. etc. But how can we as Americans claim to support our troops and honor the men and women of the military if we don't care what happens to them after the serve their country, serve us? Why is it okay for us to spend billions on fighting a war, but very little on the care and treatment of the returning veteran who volunteered to fight the war?

I put these questions out here because I hear lots of people talk about "supporting our troops" but I think that statement has to incorporate more than flying flags and ceremonies where high schoolers sing patriotic songs.