Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Join The Homeless

[babylonsister]

Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Join The Homeless

by Anne Sussman


SAN FRANCISCO - Ethan Kreutzer joined the Army at the age of 17 and fought with the 19th Airborne in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. When he retuned home, he had no money, no education and no civilian job experience. He soon became homeless. He slept in an alley off Haight Street, behind two trash cans.

June Moss drove from Kuwait to Iraq as an Army engineer in a truck convoy. When she returned to the United States, she lost her home, and drove her two young children from hotel to hotel across Northern California.

Sean McKeen, a hardy, broad-shouldered 21-year-old with a wide smile, went to Iraq to clear land mines, and to get money for college. When he returned home, he became homeless in less than a week. He found himself sleeping in a cot in a crowded homeless shelter in San Francisco.

They are all part of a growing trend of homelessness among returning war on terrorism veterans.

More than 2,000 military personnel return home to California each month. Most have no specialized job experience, education or an easy familiarity with civilian life. And many have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making it difficult to get along with friends and family, and almost impossible to hold down a job.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/11/11-3

[aquart]

1. Which is why bringing them back all at once is a BIG problem.

We have nothing set up to receive them. We have no jobs to offer them.

[babylonsister]

2. So leave them there? How about we create new jobs, as has

been suggested? Lots of infrastructure needs fixing. How about we take all that money being poured into Iraq and use some of it to build low-income housing while we're at it?

Staying there is not acceptable, so something's gotta give.

[cliffordu]

3. That's an interesting stance.

We could rebuild the infrastructure here.

Rebuild schools.

Or just leave them there: War IS a great "employer' of youth.

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Are you kidding me? The billions spent each month in Iraq would go a long way toward

job creation for them and the rest of us, don't you think?