Homeless Veterans In Killeen Have Nowhere To Go

KCEN ^ | Jan 22, 2013 | Sophia Stamas

[sergeantdave]

Our local American Legion post tried to open a boarding house for vets. An old mansion in the middle of town came up for sale cheap. We could have boarded about 8 to 12 vets, offering them two meals a day, and a visit by a nurse once a week. We had volunteer Legion carpenters, plumbers and electricians ready to fix the place and the money to do it. We would charge the vets a portion of their disability or SS checks to keep the operation going.

By the time we talked to the local and state bureaucrats, the idea became completely untenable and too expensive to carry out. The money was used instead to build a new Legion.

[slumber1]

Highly unlikely that anyone age 58 today ever served in Viet Nam. I will be 58 this year and I was too young for the last SSS draft. Someone born in 1954 or 1955 could have volunteered but the US started serious troop reduction as early as Jan 1973. I would be highly suspicious of anyone age 58 today who claimed to have served in Viet Nam.

[dragnet2]

Look, some of you people might not understand, but there are phrases or terms for vets...Like WWII vets, Korea era Vets etc..People who served during the Vietnam war are considered "Vietnam era" vets...This is well known and is no secret.

If ya read the article, it never says he was considered a combat Vietnam veteran...BTW, you and others also might not understand, there are many vets who are sent into war zones who never see combat and many who went to Vietnam never *once* saw combat...

My point here was, those who join have no idea if they are going to end up in war or combat...So all this crap about if he was in Vietnam or not, is bull shit.

Another fact is, many vets have been treated like shit by our government over the past decades and if given a chance, they'd deny medical coverage if they think they could get away with it. This is no secret.

Vets have been complaining about the crappy VA medical service for years. Some of the VA nightmare stories are enough to make your freaking hair curl.

Ya think this government really gives a damn about our veterans? Come on.

What kind of med treatment ya think your local mayor, state, county, cops, and most others in civilian government get? They receive top shelf treatment on demand friend, while many veterans are allowed to just fall through the cracks...The stories are endless of ya care to look um up.

In fact, considering what this government has done to our country, and those in the military with their "compassionate" wars for everyone except our troops, I often wonder why in hell I served.

[q_an_a]

and you!!

[slumber1]

My point here was, those who join have no idea if they are going to end up in war or combat...So all this crap about if he was in Vietnam or not, is bull shit.

First of all take a deep breath and relax. No one is impugning the honorable service of any veteran. And technically you are correct. Someone who volunteered in 1973 - 1975 would be considered a Viet Nam ERA veteran but I would suggest that anyone who joined during those years would have damn near certain he would not have been sent to a combat zone.

Furthermore combat service is an issue since articles like these seem to imply the trauma of combat service is in some way responsible for the veterans homeless condition today. I am sympathetic to the homeless be they veteran or not but most homeless veterans, particularly non combat veterans, are homeless because of their own poor choices rather than shabby treatment by the government or the VA.

[dragnet2]

What's the matter, too much brutal truth and too many facts for ya? Why don't you go up in front of a bunch of veterans who've experienced shoddy, substandard treatment from this government and smugly tell them to, "take a deep breath"?

I'd pay to see that.

Furthermore combat service is an issue since articles like these seem to imply the trauma of combat service is in some way responsible for the veterans homeless condition today.

Wait a minute here, where in this article did it imply or attempt to embellish these vets problems were a direct result of combat or their service? Give me a quote.

most homeless veterans, particularly non combat veterans, are homeless because of their own poor choices rather than shabby treatment by the government or the VA.

Could the same be said for those in government who created this mess with their reckless foreign policies and politically correct compassionate wars for everyone but our troops?

Could their poor choices include making the mistake of joining the service and willing to lay down their lives for their country? Ya see many come home to no jobs, lost careers, wives who would not wait, girl friends married to their friends, parents or families members who died while their were 8,000 miles away...etc.

In fact, they've lost and sacrificed several years of their lives regardless of weather they were in combat or not.

Are these the military veterans you're referring to slumber1?