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Honor our veterans
Homeless servicemen often forgotten after returning home
By Timothy Sienko
The problem of the homeless veteran seems to be the problem of homelessness in America.
Milwaukee residents gathered on Nov. 10 for the Veterans’ Day Parade. The 44th annual celebration was marked by events across the community, including air salutes, a performance by a baton twirling corps and the community orchestra, free admission for all veterans to the Milwaukee Art Museum and, of course, the parade.
Red poppies with the catch phrase “Lest We Forget” adorned lapels. The parade committee named the prisoners of war and those missing in action as the special guests of honor, declaring, “You are not forgotten.”
Unfortunately, a great number of those veterans were not present at this celebration or any held across America over the past weekend. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs states that approximately one-third of the nation’s homeless are indeed veterans.
The USDVA goes further to estimate that on any given night there are nearly 200,000 former military men and women sleeping without shelter. The statistic doubles when considering an entire year.
It seems Veterans Day ceremonies are more about remembering and honoring the actions of the U.S. military than those individuals who have carried the flag.
It’s not surprising then that a large percentage of homeless veterans served during America’s involvement in Vietnam, a superfluous war at best. Unpopular with the American counterculture, veterans of that conflict were largely treated with disdain or indifference.
The horrors endured by veterans of Vietnam, as reported by Walter Kronkite and discussed in numerous works of art, would seem a likely cause for homelessness.
The USDVA states that, “the number of homeless male and female Vietnam era veterans is greater than the number of service persons who died during that war.”
However, the Associated Press cites USDVA figures at 1,500 homeless veterans of The War Against Terror. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans cites every American armed conflict (including the Cold War and drug efforts in South America) since World War II as having veterans who are now homeless.
Easy as it may be to point toward Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), battle wounds and chemical exposures as the causes for veteran homelessness, the USDVA suggests while many do suffer from PTSD, a more complex set of reasons is responsible.
While the department is vague in offering any possible causes aside from low income and “various personal characteristics (rather than military service)” they do offer some statistics concerning those veterans who are homeless. The USDVA states that mental illness plagues approximately 45 percent and nearly 70 percent suffer from substance abuse.
To further defer any easy diagnosis, homeless veterans tend to be older, with more education than those homeless who did not serve. Predominantly male veterans are among the homeless, while females account for four percent of the homeless population.
The problem of the homeless veteran seems to be the problem of homelessness in America. Believing the USDVA’s claims, it seems that those veterans who now live without families and houses do so regardless of their military service.
The armed forces, following this logic, simply delay a person’s homelessness. Perhaps the veteran was attracted to service in hopes of finding a home, or the draft lifted them out of poverty into the battlefield.
However, trying to pinpoint a reason is both futile and unnecessary, ignoring the approximately 800,000 American citizens (veteran or not) who are homeless.
Attending Veterans Day celebrations is a necessary gesture of appreciation, but refuses to address the problem of homelessness facing many of those men and women. Remembrance is not a poppy; honor is not a parade. These men and women carried the flag for us and we thank them by ignoring their plight?
There are numerous national efforts, including federal funds, to offer help to America’s veterans without homes. NCHV suggests that the most successful effort groups are “veterans helping veterans” and community-based organizations.
The USDVA reports annually helping 100,000 homeless veterans, focusing first on the families and unwed mothers, but this leaves 75 percent of America’s homeless defenders without assistance every year.
The first step in honoring those who have protected us but live without shelter is awareness and involvement.
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