Veteran's DayBy Edward Barlow, Section War and Peace
November 11 is Veteran's Day; a day to rightfully remember, honor, and celebrate veterans.
But sadly, many of those sleeping on America's streets, sidewalks, in cardboard boxes, or where ever they can, are veterans who fought for freedom, democracy, and capitalism in America's many wars and covert actions. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (Link_to_report 29 August 2007) on any given day of the year there are over 195,000 homeless veterans. More details in the full story...
In the course of a year as many as 400,000 veterans will experience homelessness. About 1 of 3 of the adult homeless population are veterans.
The VA also reports that many other veterans are considered near homeless or "at risk" because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing. They also state that number of homeless male and female Vietnam Era veterans is greater than the number of service persons who died during that war. Also, a US Justice Department Report, NCJ 178888 of January 2000, reported that an estimated 225,000 veterans were incarcerated at that time. VA benefits, retirement benefits, and VA programs are excellent and generous. Medical benefits are top notch. Probably over $100 billion dollars a year is spent on veterans. Great out-reach programs are there; yet the main issue for some veterans is access to or information regarding the benefits that they earned and are entitled to. So this veterans day, we should thank our veterans for the freedom, democracy, and capitalism we enjoy today. And we should not forget our VMIAs - Veterans Missing in America. |
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