On Memorial Day... A reminder about Homeless Veterans

[walldude]

We support our troops? It's a great PR line... "Support the troops", and we as a nation talk a great game. However, as with everything else in this country if you peel back the layers of lies you see that we support our troops only when we force them to go out and kill for us, when they come home they are discarded like some old piece of junk.

There are 107,000 Homeless Veterans in America. Vets make up only 8% of society but 20% of homeless people are vets. And if the current wars end we will see a rise in those numbers. It's time we put an end to this. If you have anything you can spare you can donate to help a homeless veteran here:

http://www.nchv.org/donate.cfm

I chose this day to start keeping a promise I made to a special DU'er. While this post is about Vets on Memorial Day, the homeless problem in this country is not going away and the government is ignoring it. Expect to see more calls to arms from me on this subject in the future. Have a great day.

[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[NYC_SKP]

2. K&R n/t

[Lifelong Protester]

3. Done and done.

I made a donation in honor of my dad, a veteran of the Korean conflict, gone but not forgotten.

I give this a kick and rec for more exposure, and thank you for your posting of it.

[mopinko]

4. really?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/03/AR2009110303615.html

[walldude]

6. Yes really...

It's a nice plan. I hope they actually do it, but don't come in here and fucking act like the Government is doing something. They are promising to do something. I'll file that with all the other promises that have been and will be made. I'm getting tired of the "they are going to fix that soon" defense.

[mopinko]

19. i wasn't trying to refute that there was a problem

just objecting to your saying that nothing was being done, when in fact that plan is going well the last i heard. enough? what is or would be? but nothing? no.

[bobbolink]

16. Until "they" decide to build a lot more low-income housing, nothing will change.

All of this "treatment" is nothing new, and nothing has changed from it.

Except that more and more veterans become homeless. :cry:

[BR_Parkway]

5. You may be pleased to hear that this project is back in the bidding

process with gov't funding from various agencies after the private money committed to it fell apart in 2008. 42 of the units are reserved for homeless vets and the location was partially selected based on availability of services for them (additionally there is a plan for the VA to provide some services within the building itself.)

The Housing Authority is currently seeking a non-profit group with experience in a project this size to step in as the sponsor since the private developer is out - but the money is all in place through a variety of grants, tax credits and development agreements that defer the construction profits over time rather than an upfront cost

http://www.amaa.com/portfolio/project/?category=affordable&project=141&redir=L3BvcnRmb2xpby8/Y2F0ZWdvcnk9YWZmb3JkYWJsZSMxNQ==

[walldude]

7. Thanks...

Much nicer than the other poster who chose to call "Bullshit" on my post...

I really hope they pull this off. I'm sure Vets are tired of the rug being pulled out from under them...

[BR_Parkway]

11. Here's the details, I was heading out the door earlier and didn't have

a chance to find the actual documents link

http://www.portlandonline.com/PHB/index.cfm?c=52610

[flvegan]

8. Rec #10.

[Bigmack]

9. I know a young woman...

who works with the homeless thru Catholic Services. They finished a residence/apartment complex a year ago for homeless men, and virtually all the residents are vets.

She told me she took one guy/vet into his new home, and he cried.

So did I when she told me.

This fucking country makes too many veterans!

[walldude]

10. .

[bobbolink]

12. Thank you, walldude.

:patriot:

There is so much to add.... I must run to get my notes. Remember the Bonus Army? Their encampment at the Capitol was the first Hooverville! One in particular will remain in my memory.

Thank you.

[bobbolink]

13. Remember Joe Angelo

Joe Angelo was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during a battle in France in 1918 while serving with an American tank unit. During the battle, a young officer, whom Angelo was serving under as an orderly, was seriously wounded by a machine gun in an exposed position. Showing great courage under enemy fire, Angelo brought the officer to safety. He had thus saved the life of the man who would one day become a legend: George S. Patton.

The Depression and the Bonus Army
In 1932, while Patton continued his path on his famous military career, Joe Angelo had returned to civilian life. He was unemployed and suffering along with many other veterans from the effects of the Great Depression. As a result, he joined the Bonus Army movement. The Bonus Army was a movement of First World War veterans demanding monetary compensation for their roles in the war. The particular issue was that these veterans had been promised compensation but they were not due to receive it until 1945. Given the realities of the depression, the veterans such as Joe Angelo demanded that they receive the money immediately. The veterans marched on Washington D.C., setting up camps in order to protest against the administration of President Herbert Hoover.

The Last Meeting
On July 28, 1932, troops were ordered into the camps to quell the protest. In the resulting melee, two veterans were killed and many were injured. The commanders of the operation included Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and George Patton, the man whom Joe Angelo had saved so many years before. In the aftermath of the assault on the camps, Angelo approached Patton, but was harshly rejected. The last known words between the men were uttered by Patton:

"I do not know this man. Take him away and under no circumstances permit him to return." After this he explained to his fellow officers that Angelo had "dragged me from a shell hole under fire. I got him a decoration for it. Since the war, my mother and I have more than supported him. We have given him money. We have set him up in business several times. Can you imagine the headlines if the papers got word of our meeting here this morning. Of course, we'll take care of him anyway."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Angelo#The_Depression_and_the_Bonus_Army

What this story reminds us is to concentrate on JUSTICE, rather than Charity. There is no reason these patriots should be left in poverty!

[walldude]

21. Wow.. just Wow..

You know I knew a little of that story but not much. Thanks for the link and pics...

[bobbolink]

22. Think of how many of today's decorated troops are now homeless.

:cry:

The camps set afire with the Capitol in the background.... I can never see that without tears.

[laughingliberal]

14. K & R nt

[Forkboy]

15. K&R

[Peacetrain]

17. K&R!!

[Starry Messenger]

18. k & r

[bobbolink]

20. Could we please keep homeless veterans on the front page on Memorial Day?

Please?

[bobbolink]

23. One more kick for our homeless vets!

:kick:

[pinboy3niner]

24. K&R

:patriot:

[raouldukelives]

25. K&R