Why does Johnny come Marching Homeless »
Posted By not2needy 8 months, 3 weeks ago in NewsLEEDS, Mass. - Peter Mohan traces the path from the Iraqi battlefield to this lifeless conference room, where he sits in a kilt and a Camp Kill Yourself T-shirt and calmly describes how he became a sad cliche: a homeless veteran.
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not2needy
I am a Christian, Married, Liberal, and retired social worker. One son. I enjoy my computer, gardening, reading, cooking and having a good time with ...
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not2needy8 months, 3 weeks ago
He would pull out his gun, a .45-caliber, semiautomatic pistol. He would lovingly clean it, or just look at it and put it away. Sometimes place it in his mouth.
This is beyond sad, but doesn't seem to be that uncommon.
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not2needy8 months, 3 weeks ago
This is nothing new, there are Nam vets that are still homeless decades later.
This is a terrible testimonial to the VA and the lack of care our vets have available when they come home.
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Welfare_Made_Me_RichComment removed: User banned.5 Replies
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not2needy8 months, 3 weeks ago
I worked for the welfare system here in Ky for 22 years, and not once did i ever know of any vet receiving money payments for housing or anything else.
There are states that have General Assistance, which gives anyone who applies and qualifies a money payment, based on household size, but not here. The only person who qualifies for a money payment is a parent with dependent children in the home. Medical Assistance HERE is also reserved for dependent children and the custodial parent, not for anyone who goes in and applies.
Subsidized housing is very hard to come by, here or anywhere because the Feds have cut so much funding for that program too.
Have you been in the military, POW, or a war?
I want to see the stats that back up your statement.
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mntnman4448 months, 3 weeks ago
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
One of the many groups working to solve this kind of tragedy...
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Ciera-Marie8 months, 3 weeks ago
Everyone who has commented so far has made valid points.
While I have not supported the war in Iraq, I have always supported the troops. To me supporting the troops means, they get everything they need (and not out of pocket) before they go, the medical are they need while in, safety (w/o fear of rape by fellow soldiers or superiors), the r & r between deployments, the pay, the housing, so many other things I don't know about that they need while in (including their families.). I also support their getting the care they need when they get out.
Sending the wounded back is not supporting the troops.
Expecting them to work seven days a week, 18 hours, for 16 months, or longer is not supporting the troops. That is not care of the troops.
Vets becoming homeless is not supporting them.
The VA's that specifically deal with and treat PTSD's have a long waiting list.
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Ciera-Marie8 months, 3 weeks ago
This goes with the rest of my comment (which got lost.)
MN has a (staffed by MN state employees who are vets M-F, 8:00-4:30pm, the rest of the time by volunteers {people working on getting their psych degrees.} but is better than nothing.) 24 hour, 1-800 number that vets can call to get information on the agencies / services that can help them. Hopefully they'll call.
I also know most of the Social service agencies in the Twin Cities metro area (State, county, non profit and for profit) are trying to figure out how to help vets who have been labeled "behavioral problem." I don't know if that is correct. I do know it denies them their benefits. It denies them the treatment and help they need by the military.
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MonkeyBiz8 months, 3 weeks ago
The bushies have come up with a new discharge category for troops that have a "mental or emotional" problem. The discharge makes the vet ineligible for benefits, so it ensures that few soldiers will seek help while they are in the military, and the ones that do will not burden the VA. It is a despicable chickenhawk policy that should be relegated to the trash can.
A good resource, CM, is the VFW. They have service officers that will assist vets in getting what they need for no cost. The vet doesn't have to join the VFW to get the free service.
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MonkeyBiz8 months, 3 weeks ago
The local VA here has actually CUT BACK on PTSD programs even as the need for them has risen dramatically. They say there is not enough money.
Since Bush took office, the VA budget on a per patient basis has been slashed dramatically. The bushies have declared thousands of vets ineligible for VA services and raised co-pays and prices. One of the bushies testified to congress that the expense of supporting vets and their widows was "hurtful to the war effort." The repug congress continued to cut the VA budget.
The dems have been a little better. They have increased the VA budget and given disabled vets a little more money to live on, but there is still a huge shortage of services and long waits to get what there is.
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their country." -George Washington
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not2needy8 months, 3 weeks ago
So well put CM!
You are right, just saying we support the troops doesn't mean supporting the war. It means providing our military personell with religious, mental, physical as well as monetary assistance, before during and after the war. I didn't witness any of this before during or after Vietnam, and apparently it's not being provided now.
This in and of itself puts a bad taste in my mouth. It's easy to sit back and rant about supporting the troops as long as it doesn't really touch anyone you love, but all of us should love our country enough to want our people to be healthy, especially our military.
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ML2007Comment removed: User banned.11 Replies
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mntnman4448 months, 3 weeks ago
"If there be one principle more deeply rooted than any other in the mind of every American,it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest".
-Thomas Jefferson...and Ron Paul.
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.
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flyonthewallzz8 months, 3 weeks ago
This may be a silly thought.
I am a total Moonbat.
Yet I hunger for an opportunity to show my respect to those that offered their lives to protect us.
A simple gesture like giving my place in line, or picking up the cost of a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich would give me great joy.
I think times are different, I do not think pacifists have forgiven themselves yet for the disrespect shown to the Veterans of Vietnam.
Our veterans should be able to walk the streets tall and proud and we should have their back.
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.29 Replies
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JohnQPublicComment removed: User banned.
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NelsonR8 months, 3 weeks ago
Deplorable that any American can support this war and the treatment of these vets is standard treatment for many returning vets. Send all our representatives children and unnecessary wars like Iraq will never occur again.
Bush daughters should have enlisted and just maybe many Americans could have understood his aggressive war decision.
Neo cons are famous for sending other parents children to wars that are wrong.
Again, the surge is not ever going to succeed with the various sects stockpiling weapons this very day for the inevitable civil war. No more Americans should be subject to an unjust war and then coming home dead, wounded or broken, for what?????
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IcCaRus8 months, 3 weeks ago
ya know, i dont see ANY of the "we support the troops by sending them into bogus wars" conservative crowd here. they dont dare show their faces on a thread that exposes the shameful way the Bush admin treats the very people they make such a SHOW of supporting.
disgraceful!
