HOMELESS IRAQ VETS SHOWING UP AT SHELTERS

Washington Times ^ | 12/8/04

[areafiftyone]

Washington, DC, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. veterans from the war in Iraq are beginning to show up at homeless shelters around the country, and advocates fear they are the leading edge of a new generation of homeless vets not seen since the Vietnam era.

"When we already have people from Iraq on the streets, my God," said Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. "I have talked to enough (shelters) to know we are getting them. It is happening and this nation is not prepared for that."

"I drove off in my truck. I packed my stuff. I lived out of my truck for a while," Seabees Petty Officer Luis Arellano, 34, said in a telephone interview from a homeless shelter near March Air Force Base in California run by U.S.VETS, the largest organization in the country dedicated to helping homeless veterans.

Arellano said he lived out of his truck on and off for three months after returning from Iraq in September 2003. "One day you have a home and the next day you are on the streets," he said.

[MisterRepublican]

The left is stepping up its attempt to portay Iraq as the new Viet Nam. I don't buy it.

[wideawake]

We cannot allow another Vietnam situation to occur.

During Vietnam, thousands of bums lied and said they were vets for sympathy.

Likewise, many people who once had served but who were not in any forward area claimed to be combat veterans.

With the internet as a tool, we can begin to investigate these claims more quickly and more efficiently.

We should check on the people mentioned in this article.

[leadpencil1]

Here come the "republican administration" homeless stories.

[Abathar]

I thought we were holding them in and not releasing them because of the war - I wonder if this may be a scam, how do you really know they were in Iraq?

[annyokie]

I predicted the return of the Homeless during Thanksgiving week. Funny how they only appear when we have Republican President, isn't it?

[areafiftyone]

I agree. We have to monitor this closely and see if these people are really vets. If they are they should be taken care of.

[2banana]

A gunner's mate for 16 years, Arellano said he adjusted after serving in the first Gulf War. But after returning from Iraq, depression drove him to leave his job at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He got divorced.

There is alot more going on here. 16 years in and quits with just 4 more years until a pension? Quit his government job? Got Divorced? It seems like he needs some counseling and therapy...

[lugsoul]

Yeah, that Washington Times is such a leftist rag, I don't know why JimRob even lets us post articles from it...

[hoosierboy]

I dont get it, why dont thy just stay active duty. I mean why complain and rush to get out so you can hurry up and live out of your car. At least if they stay in they are doing something constructive and getting paid for it.

[rintense]

'I drove off in my truck. I packed my stuff. I lived out of my truck for a while,'

A shame, but it was HIS choice to do so.

[rhombus]

Just because someone is a bum and may have been a vet... means what? OK let's all say it together..."Bush's fault". We did learn from Vietnam, we learned not to let liberals get away with demagoging and lies.

[OneTimeLurker]

Yeah. Sure. There are no homeless vets. We can just deny their existance and challenge them to their face saying we don't believe they are vets.

/Sarcasm

[Names Ash Housewares]

"We should check on the people mentioned in this article."

Just like the phony SEALS. Expose any fakers.

[Abathar]

I believe word has gotten out about how well vets have been treated, especially wounded vets, by people who feel gratitude for what they are doing. When people hear about strangers buying them meals and offering them a place to stay it probably sounds like the gravy wagon has arrived and they want to belly up while the getting is good.

[Constitution Day]

From the source link:

By Mark Benjamin
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

[shield]

More Lies from the left....at least this go around we'll not be fooled as we were (fooled/lied too) during and after NAM.

The MSM propaganda machine is 'OUT OF SERVICE'...we're not listening/looking or believing!!! ;o)

[frankenMonkey]

"...said Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans."

Consider the source of the story - could be an impartial voice giving us the actual situation on the streets, or could be a bit of self-serving request for funding. I think the operative phrase may be "trust but verify..."

[txhurl]

Agreed.

[Tempest]

How in the hell does this happen in America?!

[rabidralph]

If not, we should beat them up and videotape it :-)

[7.62 x 51mm]

Something here doesn't pass the smell test, IMO.

[Rodney King]

A gunner's mate for 16 years, Arellano said he adjusted after serving in the first Gulf War. But after returning from Iraq, depression drove him to leave his job at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He got divorced.

So in other words, his beign homeless has nothing to do with his being a veteran.

[wideawake]

I'm sure there are homeless veterans.

Are you suggesting that thousands of bums do not fraudulently claim to be veterans? The phenomenon is well-documented.

If an able-bodied adult male is begging for change on the street 99% of passersby have understandably little pity for him, since an able-bodied adult male should be working for money not begging for it.

But if he wears a sign saying he's a vet, many of those same people say: "Well, he is a vet. I owe him something for his service."

There is a strong economic incentive, therefore, for a bum to lie and say he served. Should we take all such claims immediately at face value?

[stylin19a]

Geez....where to begin with this article?

Nearly 300,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, and almost half served during the Vietnam era, according to the Homeless Veterans coalition, a consortium of community-based homeless-veteran service providers. While some experts have questioned the degree to which mental trauma from combat causes homelessness, a large number of veterans live with the long-term effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse, according to the coalition.

1. 150,00 Vietnam era homeless any given night..
2. Vietnam "era" means some haven't served "in-country", ergo, their problems are not combat related.
3. 150,000 out of 8.2 million that served during the Vietnam era ? less than 2 % ?

Looks like the homeless are back in full force.
Blame Bush.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>Nearly 300,000 veterans are homeless on any given night

That is a bold face lie!!!

Reminds me of the leftwings endless attempts to place the national homeless figure at 6-7 million. Especially during GOP periods of elected power. The figure is closer to 300K-600K. Liberals enjoy labeling Republicans and conservatives as heartless. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[Polyxene]

And so it begins.......................

[OneTimeLurker]

If you want to challenge them go ahead. If you don't want to give them money don't. Donating to services for veterans would seem to be the best means contributing to veterans anyway.

[Mr. K]

I hope Rush picks up on this story- I miss his "homeless update' theme song ("aint got no home... ")

[lilylangtree]

Gotta be some big time exaggeration.

[Ramcat]

Vets represent a broad sample of society.
Naturally there will be homeless vets just as there are homeless non vets.
IMO we should ensure that the homeless are cared for through the generosity of the community where they live.
Homeless vets IMO deserve some additional special consideration from their government.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Everytime I see an article like this, it seems suspicious for just the same old MSM bias reasons.

But we do have to pay attention to these reports, verify & quantify them.

Coincidentally, just last night, I was talking with a group of volunteers for the local VA hospital, and they mentioned the surprising volume of soldiers who had come into the system from Iraq, mainly with post-traumatic stress disorders. Their share of suffering is nothing to dismiss lightly.

This is only one anecdote so it might be interesting to see if the same trend is reported for other coalition participants.

[Sprite518]

Hey they can sign back up to work for Uncle Sam.

[darkwing104]

To say there aren't any Homeless vets would be foolish. The reason why these vets are homeless has nothing to do with military service but choices they made once they left the military. If they can't produce a 214 they are nothing more then fakes.

My fellow Freepers you are on the right path about question creditability of anyone who claims to be a vet. I often warn my wife about so-call vets telling "War Stories". More often then not, they are liars. Most of the combat who I've met and know don't boast or talk about what they did except to each other.

This story is timed for the holidays to make Republicans look bad. If Kerry got elected you would of never heard anything about this. I challenge the reporter to prove these men are the real deal.

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

"I agree. We have to monitor this closely and see if these people are really vets. If they are they should be taken care of."

Yep, they need a job. If this guy is a "SEABEE", it means he should be a guy with a decent construction skill, as well as combat skills. If he doesn't have skills, then I'd next ask to see his DD214, because he couldn't have been in the SEABEE's very long. SEABEEs could build their own home (doors might not be square, but it'd be functional), rather than live in a shelter.

Anyone could end up in trouble, but this doesn't add up. If the guy's not chemically dependent, he should be able to find a job in his trade. The Wash. Times may not be a "commie rag", but this story doesn't pass the "sniff" test. I may head over to March AFB and look this guy up.

SFS

[drungus]

From the source link:

By Mark Benjamin

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Not sure what you are getting at, but UPI is owned by the same company that owns the Washington Times.

[fix]

Well, for starters they quote a Marine who describes himself as a "soldier." No Marine will ever fail to make that distinction. Marines do not call themselves soldiers, EVER. Any current or veteran Marine will tell you that. That indicates to me that something fishy is going on.

[Constitution Day]

I didn't know that. Thanks.

[drungus]

That doesn't mean that the article is right in any respect, but rather that it should be challenged on the merits, not on its source.

[FreedomNeocon]

Odd that with all the 'stop-gap' stories and law suits about bringing back some ready-reserve (IE Bringing more / Retaining longer) there are now 'waves' of homeless vets popping up.

Me wonders if they would have 'showed up' if sKerry won.

I'm young, and mabye just ignorent of the situation, but I always thought Military people to be hard working, motiviated, considerate, honest people.

More than that, usually have some kind of skill through the service, PLUS I know alot of people who would give special preference (a kind of affirmative action.. heh) to an equally qualified applicant for a job that ALSO happend to setup up and do the brave service.

I wasn't around for VietNam, but it seems to be EVERY claim should be first verfied with Military records before a single shred of credence is even given to the issue.

[Uncle Miltie]

I was accosted by one such "Vet" on the streets of Fargo. This 40 year old scruffy fellow couldn't walk very straight, and was wearing old green BDU pants.

He said, "I just got back from Iraq, can you spare a few bucks so I can buy a meal?"

I looked him up and down, and replied, "You didn't come back from Iraq with that haircut and those pants! Get lost."

To which he reacted by stumbling on to his next "mark."

[Imaverygooddriver]

Here`s a good story...I grew up in Queens NY near NYC. When I was a kid, one of my fathers good friend was a Viet vet and every now and then he would run into these guys in the street panhandling for change. They would have these signs in front of them "Viet vet please help" they would have the whole deal, no leg etc. and he would confront them "Where did you serve, what unit etc etc" and they couldn`t answer. They were all fakes. Not once did he ever find a real Vet, they were all phonies, all of them, and the media played it up that they are legit.

You`re seeing that or are going to see that again all over again. Bums who lost legs to diabetes and drinking, or drugs, they put two and two together and they start pulling this "I lost my leg in Iraq" stuff, and along comes Mr. Liberal media guy "Oh how could this evil country do this to you!" After Vietnam, everyone suddenly was a Vietnam vet. There`s a book out called Stolen Valor (I think that`s the name) about this scourge of Viet vet phonies that started popping up all over the place in the late `70`s 80`s. And it wasn`t just bums, it was everything from Hollywood stars like Brian Dennehy to politicians. Here`s a page I found on it.....

http://www.stolenvalor.com/

[The Loan Arranger]

Having worked with homeless veterans for over 15 years as a Local Veterans Employment Representative(LVER) and Disabled Veteran Outreach Veteran Program (DVOP) Rep. with the State Employment Service of a Midwestern State that has an early caucus (hint, hint);including a year administering a Job Training Partnership Act(JTPA)Title IV-C homeless veteran program, I can tell you firsthand that most "homeless veterans" aren't. They either are NOT veterans or they are homeless by choice/bad decisions/mental disease (drugs, alcohol, combination of the two, extreme lassitude, personality disorders, "world owes me a living syndrome", and in some cases actual service induced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). One gentleman claimed to be a Navy Lt. Commander, assigned to the SEALs during Vietnam. Said he was captured by the Vietnamese and expatriated to the Soviets, where he was kept incommunicado until the mid- 1970's. Something smelled fishy to me, so I called SEAL Headquarters, where they proceeeded to laugh until they cried. Suffice to say, his story was a bit of a stretch.
Under our guidelines, if a veteran does not live in his own home (own or rent) he/she is "homeless". Anotherwords, most of the 20-25 year olds coming back from Iraq and living in Mom & Dad's basement are "fair game" for the lefty activists to count as "victims" of Bush's "evil war", even if, in reality, he/she is fine and dandy.

[EricT.]

I do not buy that this guy was ever in Iraq or even the Navy. The article describes him first as a SeaBee, then further down as a gunner's mate. I have dealt with a few SeaBee units and remember plenty of EO's and UT's but no GMG's.

Even if he was as he claims, why isn't he getting treatment from the VA for his injuries, which his service fully qualifies him to recieve? Does he not have any family or friends? Why did he get out if he had nothing for him in the civilian world? This smells way too much to take seriously.

[areafiftyone]

Thank you for the info.

[SittinYonder]

Linda Boone, executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans

She doesn't have any interests in seeing something like homeless veterans perpetuate, does she?

[wideawake]

I refer you to posts 43 and 44 on this thread.

[SuzyQue]

What you said - wideawake! You are exactly right, and I am disappointed that the Times writer was not a bit more skeptical.

[Yaelle]

Meanwhile think of all the programs that there are for free food and medical care for illegal aliens. I would rather give our taxpayer dollars to help those who gave their all for this country than those who broke the law getting here and now have their hands out.

[Stratman]

The post is from the Washington Times --- hardly a pawn of the left.