Thank you vets

[lendaddy]

For all you do and have done, our sincerest gratitude.

[frogger]

+1000.

Let's not just thank them, but keep them in mind when you're think about community service / charitable giving.


Vets are 1 in 4 of homeless
A surge looms as soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq already are trickling into shelters. Experts worry about a flood of mental-health woes.
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 11/07/2007 11:57:02 PM MST


WASHINGTON — Military veterans make up one in four homeless people though they are 11 percent of the general U.S. adult population, according to a report to be released today.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has identified 1,500 homeless vets from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.

The Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. Data from 2005 estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.

In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.

Some advocates say such an early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless.

Advocates worry that repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.

"We're going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous," said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.

While services to homeless veterans have improved in the past 20 years, advocates say more financial resources still are needed.

With the spotlight on the plight of Iraq veterans, advocates hope more will be done to prevent homelessness and provide affordable housing while there's a window of opportunity.

"When the Vietnam War ended, that was part of the problem. The war was over, it was off TV, nobody wanted to hear about it," said John Keaveney, a Vietnam veteran and a founder of New Directions in Los Angeles, which provides substance-abuse help, job training and shelter.

"I think they'll be forgotten," he said of new veterans. "...It's not glitzy that these are young, honorable, patriotic Americans. They'll just be veterans, and that happens after every war."

Keaveney said it's difficult for his group to persuade some homeless Iraq veterans to stay for treatment and help because they don't relate to the older veterans. Those who stayed have had success - one is now a stock broker and another is applying to be a police officer, he said.

"They see guys that are their father's age and they don't understand, they don't know, that in a couple of years, they'll be looking like them," he said.

Iraq vets seeking help with homelessness are more likely to be women, less likely to have substance abuse problems, but more likely to have mental illness - mostly related to post-traumatic stress, said a VA official.

[Tobra]

Thank you to current and future veterans of our armed forces.

Cutting mental health funding caused the homeless population in Northern California to explode when Reagan did it as governor.

I don't see how you could not be messed up by seeing what goes on in a war, at least get nightmares or something.

[frogger]

+1

[rammstein]

This is one of the few holidays that really should count for something in our minds.

To the vets who read this- THANK YOU

[DaveE]

To my late father, a WWII vet, to my older brother, a Viet Nam vet........to all veterans, Thank You.

[motion]

Thank you for your service and sacrifices. They make our country one of the best places to live in the world.

[DavidI]

Semper Fi to all our our brothers and sisters serving our country!

David

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

Thank you vets. For all you do and have done, our sincerest gratitude.

+6,602,224,175 (July 2007 World population est.)

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Scooter

+6,602,224,175 (July 2007 World population est.)

While I am still on active duty, not yet a vet, I would ask one simple thing: the next time you see a man or woman in uniform, just say thanks in person.

I never travel in uniform, but many young kids have to. You'd be amazed how warm and heartfelt the response is when you simply look them in the eye and say that you appreciate what they do.

I never tell them I'm active duty, btw.

Happy Veterans Day to my Father, Father-in-law, both Grandfathers, Great Uncles on both sides of our family and the countless others who served.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Thank you to current and future veterans of our armed forces.

Cutting mental health funding caused the homeless population in Northern California to explode when Reagan did it as governor.

I don't see how you could not be messed up by seeing what goes on in a war, at least get nightmares or something.

I think the main reason the homeless population exploded in CA is because of the weather and the very favorable laws. Where else is there a law that allows the homeless to sleep on the sidewalk anywhere they please...even in residential areas? Homelessness is way down in most areas of the US.

IMHO, most that claim to be veterans are not. I have volunteered at many homeless shelters and have yet to find a bona fide veteran. Many claimed to be as an excuse for their circumstance and others as a gimmick for panhandling...but after talking to them...it was clear they were not. Wearing an old, worn-out field jacket does not a veteran make. I am sure that the jackets I have given to Goodwill, etc are still in use.

Folks that get "messed-up" by seeing war are considered disabled and receive care and a check each month...if they are homeless, it is by choice.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

While I am still on active duty, not yet a vet, I would ask one simple thing: the next time you see a man or woman in uniform, just say thanks in person.

I never travel in uniform, but many young kids have to. You'd be amazed how warm and heartfelt the response is when you simply look them in the eye and say that you appreciate what they do.

I never tell them I'm active duty, btw.

Happy Veterans Day to my Father, Father-in-law, both Grandfathers, Great Uncles on both sides of our family and the countless others who served.

+1. Me too. The last time I was traveling, In an airport McDonalds I came across a company of reservists on their way to Iraq. I told them that there money was no good there and bought them all lunch. I know that pay is pretty good these days and most troops actually save a lot of money in theater because there is simply no way to spend it...but they sure seemed to appreciate the gesture.

My office at work gets notified whenever one of our guys comes back from Iraq. We meet them at the airport en mass...with signs and streamers...and welcome them home. We also send them off that way.

Happy Veteran's Day Seahawk! Thanks for your service.

[Superman]

There is so much fukked up about fint's post that I'm not even going to respond.

Seahawk, I love to do this. It works nicely with policemen also, though I generally target State Troopers. I enjoy offering them my honest opinion that they give us the utmost in professionalism and service to the community, and that we appreciate those things very much. The look on their faces is priceless.

By the way, guys, and I wonder if I should create a thread for this (naw, probably won't but here is some good information There is a program called Helmets to Hardhats. It is a national program. There are similar local programs. Public agencies are the first to embrace programs that can help target their spending and other efforts so that this spending has the maximum beneficial impact on the community. They try to make sure their construction dollars stay in the community, rather than being siphoned away by out-of-area contractors (this, gentlemen, is the purpose behind prevailing wage laws). They try to make sure those contractors hire a diverse workforce that includes apprentices, so that important construction skills can be passed on. Demographics in the construction industry are frightening. Right now, agencies and labor groups are all over the growing problem of disabled vets coming back into the community after having sacrificed their earning potential to a IED in Iraq. Or maybe they are not disabled, but are veterans of that conflice. Helmets to Hardhats is a conduit for those service men and women to consider construction careers. These are good jobs. The transition makes good sense. This and other similar programs are being woven into the labor agreements I deal with. And by the way, those nasty, ugly, terrorist, baby-killing Labor leaders are working hard to make opportunities for these vets and help them in the transition.

[The Gaijin]

Yes, thank you vets. And yes, Supe they can be very good jobs.

[Scooter]

Please, stop any political bantering now and just say thank you, or just move on to another thread.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Superman

There is so much fukked up about fint's post that I'm not even going to respond....

As a veteran with over 31 years of service...Thank you all for your kind remarks! But when you make posts that imply that veterans are any more likely to be homeless, crazy, or both than anyone else (simply not true)....alll you do is perpetrate the Hollywood myth that seeks to denigrate veterans...(Crazy vet in American Beauty that kills the lead character, etc). Supe...bite me!

[Superman]

Yes, and if you post hoping to convince people that vets simply do not stoop to the homeless depths of regular people.....and if you repeat your standard position that everyone is psychologically healthy and that homelessness is a free choice for everyone.......and assert that America is hot on the task of taking really good care of disabled vets.......and that cutting of mental health funding could have nothing to do with a (coincidental?) explosion of homelessness but that perhaps the weather suddenly turned nice in California to cause the increase........

........then yeah. I'll have a temptation to bite ya. Like Scooter suggests, I'm not going to exchange any more political nonsense with you in this thread. And I hope you can also stick to the topic without getting your jabs in. I let it go the first time. If you want to continue, lets have a thread about the wonderful treatment of vets under the current beloved "administration." I dare ya. It should piss you off something fierce, what's happening these days. Why does it not?

[fintstone]

Perhaps you should start another thread explaining why you think vets are crazy and why there are so many more homeless folks in CA than anywhere else....and thanks for your service Supe!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Vets coming out of Iraq are having a terrible time with the VA. We've hired (temp) 2 disabled Vets in the last year. I should get one of them to tell you the horror stories he's been through with the VA for dialysis alone.

Want to thank a Vet? How about writing to your Congressman and telling them it's easy to send them away, but more important to care for them when they return. Tom Ashbrook, host of On Point on NPR had an excellent first hour show today on this issue.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

...Want to thank a Vet? How about writing to your Congressman and telling them it's easy to send them away, but more important to care for them when they return. Tom Ashbrook, host of On Point on NPR had an excellent first hour show today on this issue.

Although I do not defend the VA, I resent using Vets, disabled or otherwise, to attack the President and push an anti-war message. Yeah...that helps vets a lot. Shame on you.