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Atta Boy Col Hunt

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Anonymous

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No Homes For Our Soldiers
By Col. David Hunt


Upfront, if this does not piss you off, finally get you off your butts, run outside naked while screaming mad, make you paint your face and do a protest dance in front of the White House, then my friends, you are dead from the neck up — and you need to forever stop saying you care for soldiers or, for that matter, your own freedoms.

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF VETERANS HOMELESS IN THIS COUNTRY — THOUSANDS!


At last, people with some political and news-making muscle are talking about a true American tragedy: homeless veterans. On his radio and TV shows, Bill O'Reilly commented on Sen. John Edward’s remarks on the plight of homeless veterans.

Time for some background.

I am not an expert on much of anything, but I have experience in some things. I have volunteered in homeless shelters for over 30 years all over the country, depending on where I was assigned. The homeless are the ugly underbelly of this great country.

Few if any local or state governments do anything officially for the homeless. The vast majority of homeless shelters survive on private funds and volunteers. There is hardly a government agency that will even count the homeless. They are in every major city in this country, living in the worst parts of towns, under bridges, in abandoned buildings, sleeping over heating grates across the street from Harvard University, or in their cars in Los Angeles or Miami.

The homeless have kids, husbands and wives. It is estimated that between 70 to 90 percent of the homeless have some form of mental disorder and simply cannot get the necessary medical attention. Alcoholism and other forms of chemical dependency are rampant in the homeless community. Various homeless advocates suggest that there are between 7 to 12 million people in this country who have been or are homeless.

The Veterans Administration suggests that there are 193,000 homeless veterans in this country; I believe that number is closer to 500,000.

That there is homelessness in the United States of America is tragic; the fact that there are homeless veterans is criminal. Mostly men, who have fought our wars, spent countless days and nights in hell holes all over the world, been wounded, lost friends defending our way of life ... only to return to live under a bridge? This should not stand, but it does.

This is not the current administration's fault; it is every administration's fault since Valley Forge. But we are at war now. We were attacked and we have soldiers being blown up and killed, so this administration should be solving this issue — and it is not. The veterans are homeless, not just because we have tough economic times this issue existed in the best of times. Those who go to war for us, those who lost their limbs for us, those who risk it all for us, should at least have a place to call home, not in some damn box on a heating grate in the middle of Harvard Square.

The commentary of Bill O'Reilly about John Edwards at least had the issue on the front pages and on TV. For many in government the homeless is a non-issue, citizens of this great country who are mentally sick living in their cars does not get anyone votes. However, homeless veterans, even if it's one, let alone thousands, ought to cause governments to fall. A nation that does not care for its veterans does not deserve them. We cannot ever be truly great until all of us have a place to sleep and getting help for what makes us sick. If we continue to do nothing about our homeless and our homeless veterans then … WE SUCK.

Now let us do something about it and fix this now. Let's build the places to live, safe places, get generic medicine and counselors to those in need. Presidents use them as backdrops, radio and TV talk show hosts do stories on them, we have parades for them, our mothers, fathers, sons and daughters are them, we are them ... how about we help them?



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Colonel David Hunt, U.S. Army (Ret.), is a FOX News military analyst and the author of the New York Times bestseller They Just Don’t Get It. He has extensive operational experience in counterterrorism, special operations, and intelligence operations. He has trained the FBI and Special Forces in counterterrorism tactics, served as the security adviser to six different Olympic Games, testified as an expert at many major terrorist trials, and lectured at the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency.
 
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Anonymous

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Bill O'Reilly commented on Sen. John Edward’s remarks on the plight of homeless veterans.

I guess that's the best you can expect from a FOX employee. :roll: O'Reilly claimed there were NO homeless vets. In fact, he said if anyone could find one, he'd provide them with a place to live. Then when he was shown there are thousands of them, he suggested they were all addicted or crazy. What a guy! :evil:
 

Steve

Well-known member
The veterans are homeless, not just because we have tough economic times this issue existed in the best of times.

many of the vets that are homeless either will not seek assistance from the Va or are not eligible for assistance..

I volunteered at a Philadelphia push to get homeless vets into programs.. about half that showed up had never served...

some had served short stints less then four years and did not see any combat nor had a service connected disability...

of the few hundred that passed though... only two were actually service connected disabled vets.. both were receiving a small compensations for their mental illnesses..

of the twelve I talked to only three had actually served..
every one claimed to, but none of their claims were actually were true..

the homeless are readily available and many will quickly claim to be vets.. but not every one is eligible for VA care.. especially if they never even served..

But two facts remains above the rest... the VA can't force a person into a program.. and they can't break the law to provide services to a person who is not eligible..
 

Steve

Well-known member
HE HOMELESS 'VETS' WHO AREN'T
Eleven years ago, I debunked a "study" claiming a third of all men in homeless shelters were vets - noting it was based entirely on the men's own claims, and that claiming to be a vet is a favorite panhandler ploy.
December 18, 2007

"Michael Fumento is a former paratrooper who has been embedded three times in Iraq and once in Afghanistan."

either way vets are short-changed by the media and those who use them to support their agenda...especially when they use slanted data to support their claims..

If the real numbers were used,.. then those who complain about the cost of the program would see the cost wouldn't be "in the billions",.. and may actually push to help those in need

the article is worth reading,.. if only to see how the real disabled vets are getting pushed aside in favor of agendas..

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12182007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_homeless_vets_who_arent_777809.htm
 
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Anonymous

Guest
So you're saying the VA doesn't know what it's talking about when they say vets make up 1 in 4 of the homeless people on the street? That as many as 336,000 veterans were homeless at one time or another in 2006?

A vet is a vet whether he served six months or twenty years. As long as he's honorably discharged, this government has some responsibility to him. Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it wrong.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-19-homelessvets_N.htm
 

Steve

Well-known member
A vet is a vet whether he served six months or twenty years. As long as he's honorably discharged, this government has some responsibility to him.

You are correct... the government and the American people have some responsibility to every vet...

but not total responsibility .. the VA was set up to take care of the vets' "service connected disability".. it has been expanded to care for other needs not connected to the Military service..

as this is expanded vets that are in need and depend on the VA for care and services have to compete for limited resources that are are distracted and diluted..

By not abusing the VA, the VA can do more to help those with greater needs ...

When a homeless bum claims to be a vet in order to get free services it is wrong....
 

Steve

Well-known member
ff
So you're saying the VA doesn't know what it's talking about

no,.. maybe you should actually read what I typed..

the VA gives a number between 100,000 and 400,000

thank you for narrowing it down...
 

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