Reflection on Veteran's Day

The swarm of news coverage and media buzz surrounding homeless veterans over the past week comes just in time for this Veteran’s Day. The majority of these articles cite the study by National Alliance to End Homelessness from November 8th.

While reading about the fourth or fifth news article, all sounding off the aforementioned study, I wondered if this buzz will stick. I hope this does not have the charity surplus factor that occurs during Thanksgiving and Christmas and is more or less forgot about the rest of year by the majority of America.

Close to 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. The study, by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, found that about half of homeless vets are Vietnam veterans and at least 1,500 are newly returned from Iraq or Afghanistan.

As an American and a Humanitarian I am disgraced by this; shelter is a basic human need, we are one of the richest countries in the world and if we can’t provide proper support for men and women willing to risk their lives for us we fail big time. I hope that this attention paid to these Veterans today has staying power that creates action. I expect the government to put forth effort in assimilation for these people when they get back from deployment and rehabilitation for those who need it. The study does offer specific, and I believe, viable solutions to this problem.

This is not an issue of military consciousness; this is an issue of humanity.