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[Adventurer]

CBS Evening News Video

Interactive
American Heroes
Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.

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Nation's Homeless Straining Shelters
New Government Report Says Estimated 754,000 Homeless Far Exceeds Available Beds

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK, March 25, 2007
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(CBS)


Quote

"We have no inkling of the full scope of the problem."

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Roy Kearse of the homeless shelter Samaritan Village

(CBS) Hassam Elgoarany knows the price of war.

He fought in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, where a sniper's bullet took his best friend.

"His head got blown off � I get nightmares about that," said Elgoarany.

The Muslim-American sailor drowned that pain in alcohol, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller, but drinking only led to an early discharge.

Back at home, he couldn't find work. His wife took their baby boy and left. Robbery led to prison.

When he got out, Hassam became one of many homeless veterans.

"We have no inkling of the full scope of the problem," said Roy Kearse, vice president of Samaritan Village, a state-funded homeless shelter for veterans with addictions.

At Samaritan Village, Hassam found men who understood his downward spiral.

"They're returning home, they're running into obstacles and problems and all of the mechanisms aren't in place to get to them," said Kearse.

One in three homeless Americans is a veteran.

On any given night in this country, an estimated 200,000 are living on the streets.

Many served in Vietnam, but experts expect the number of Iraq veterans to swell in coming years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/25/eveningnews/main2607024.shtml

[bixlerscott]

Oh, I believe it. Back in Saint Louis, Missouri, constantly, everyday when walking, riding buses, and riding trains, the homeless would beg for money. I often talked with them to gain insight into just what the heck is the deal. Well, turns out many are veterans who failed to transition back into American society. No jobs for them, they turned to alcohol and drugs, and gave up. It's very sad and a public nuisance at the same time. Thier frustration of failure leads to comitting many bad crimes. I hate walking and riding public transit in American cities for this very reason. Frustrating for me that they act like I owe them something, simply becuase I was well groomed, educated, young, and gunning for a career when I was barely making ends meet myself. Crazy world out there.

The Vietnam war produced many, while Iraq is setting the stage for a big fat mess to get nastier on America's streets. Nothing will be done, except to imprison them, and then they get out, because the prisons are too full, and you guessed it. They are back out on the streets comitting more crimes and being a nuisance to the public. I do not blame the homeless, although irritating they are, I blame the country system for failing to allow all citizens to integrate into society in order to be productive tax paying citizens.

[Hollywoodaction]

Not providing them with the necessary support to make a quick and easy transition into civilian life=government scam to encourage them to resign?

[Pateach]

It's not a scam to get them to resign, it's persistent American denial! Denial of the ever increasing problems of veterans needs, housing, and the substance abuse epidemic in America. Veterans need support, but that costs money. The substance abuse and the housing crises in many US cities have no quick fix, and, sadly, most politicians are only willing to commit to short term solutions.

[ddeubel]

It's a shame, also a further shame that there are much more homeless that are not veterans. They merit just as much attention and shame to be cast on this government of high hogs of too too much.....sick how Washington is full of greed and bought and pocketed by interests, MONEY.

But that many veterans become homeless is a statement of where the soldiers come from, as much as anything. from the bottom class where making their living with a gun is not an option but one of only several ways to climb up out of the poverty they are in (and I use poverty in a relative way, but still valid to those suffering it). The military preys on the poor and is a pimp as much as anything.

It is also a statement not just of the united states but of any nation with veterans. Many of them end up poor and forgotten and on the wrong end of the stick. Why? Because they are just grunts, widgets, cogs ...... not humans. This is how the military works, you are replacable....and forgettable.........

What miniscule percent of even just the lobby budget of Boeing, GE , Lockheed or SAIC would resolve this problem? A sliver of a percent. Are they giving? NO, that is the bottom line....people bought and then sold down the lane...

end of rant. disgusting.

DD

DD

[Adventurer]