The title of this diary is the second line in Bruce Springsteen's Oscar winning song "Streets of Philadelphia". While the song was written for the movie and was specifically about the Tom Hanks character (Andrew Beckett) and his battle with Aids and the stigma attached to it, it can have other meanings.
Several years ago I sat down to learn it. Its not a difficult song to learn, its in the key of F and the words flow quite nicely. I downloaded the lyrics and chords as I normally do when learning a new song, printed them out and proceeded to work it out on the guitar.
What happened next after the Fleur-de-Kos.
Here are the lyrics:
I was bruised and battered, I couldn't tell what I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself.
I saw my reflection in the window, I didn't know my own face.
Oh brother gonna leave me wastin' away
On the Streets of Philadelphia.
I walked the avenue, 'til my legs felt like stone,
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone,
At night I hear the blood in my veins,
Just Black and whispery as the rain,
On the Streets of Philadelphia.
Ain't no angel gonna greet me.
It's just you and I my friend.
My clothes don't fit me no more,
I walked a thousand miles Just to slip this skin.
The night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake,
I can feel myself fading away,
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss,
Or will we leave each other alone like this
On the Streets of Philadelphia
Just three verses and a bridge, easy. Except about half way through the first verse I started weeping. I didn't see Andrew Beckett, I saw this guy:
And this guy:
And this guy:
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
One of those voices was that of Ken Rose, a homeless vet who I met way back in 1988. On memorial Day, 2009, I addressed our little gathering that we hold each year.
One of those names not on any wall is Ken Rose. I learned yesterday that Ken had died on May 6th. Some of us gathered here knew Ken, most of you have never heard of him.
In 1968 Ken was a Marine serving in Vietnam. He wasn’t a rifleman; he was just a cook, working in a mess tent. But during the Tet offensive and only 19, enemy rockets tore through the sagging canvas, erupting in a wide swath of dead and wounded. He survived but the guilt left him psychologically damaged -- forever.
The reason some of us are together is because of Ken. He was a catalyst. On August 30th, 1988, Ken took over Fort Vancouver. Ken was homeless, living in his car and was outraged that there were so many homeless veterans. So he took action. Scaling the walls of the old Fort with some gunpowder and fuses, he commandeered one of the cannons. He had left a note on the door of the Fort ("If anyone tries to enter we'll blow up the fort.”) and alerted the media. He then proceeded to set off the cannon. His subsequent arrest galvanized a bunch of us and we came to his defense, standing with him at the Clark County Courthouse. He got 30 days and 200 hours of community service. At a news conference he stated; "It's a national disgrace, to see veterans sleeping under bridges and eating from garbage cans."
Ken and I became friends and started an organization called Vets For Vets, working to get some help for the homeless vets he cared so much about. One of our first major efforts was to organize a “Stand Down” where homeless vets could meet with the agencies that were tasked with helping them come together in one place. This was set up under the Morrison Bridge during Super Bowl week 1989. We had two GP large tents set up. One was a dorm and the other was for the vets and the agencies to meet and solve their problems. Today, because of the work done by Ken, the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs and the VA hold a “Stand Down” every year. An interesting side note is that at that time, General Westmoreland was speaking at Lewis and Clark. We went up "beard the lion" so to speak and told him about the encampment. He showed up later that evening and went in to talk to the homeless vets in the "Dorm" tent.
Later that summer, Ken and I organized a walk to Salem where the traveling wall was set up. It took us three days, sleeping in schools and churches on the way, but we carried the message of the homeless vets along Highway 99W. Mike Hastie was one of the walkers on the trek, serving as our medic; we called him “Doc”.
I am telling you this story because sometimes we forget that even though we carry the scars of war with us, we can make a difference. Ken made a difference because he channeled his anger in a positive direction. He turned it into love for his fellow man. I am here because of Ken Rose. His story is emblematic of many who have been touched by the war and yet find a way to turn their experience into something good, something that reduces the pain and suffering of others while at the same time helps us heal ourselves.
It took me about six tries before I could get through the song without tears. As Joe Galloway, one of the best war correspondents once said:
Someone once asked me if I had learned anything from going to war so many times.
My reply:
Yes, I learned how to cry.
The shame of this country to allow those who were caught up in the "Patriot's Dream" to be left alone on the streets "bruised and battered" is obscene.
From the The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV)
How many homeless veterans are there?
Although flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – VA estimates that 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.
And it is not just the homeless vet. We should be ashamed that there are any homeless left out on the mean streets, but by reducing the number of homeless vets, resources could be shifted to those "civilian" homeless.
The VA is trying with its. Homeless Programs & Initiatives. I haven't kept up as much as I should on these programs and I'm sure the republican assholes that walk the halls of congress could give a shit about these programs if they displease their corporate masters. So I walk the streets and see those who gave some measure of service whether they enlisted or were drafted (remember the draft?) cast aside with the other flotsam and jetsam of a society that averts its eyes to the reality of an epidemic of poverty and homelessness that our "leaders" except as normal. We should be better than that.
There’s Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore
BOHICA
Repentant past member of Murder Inc. SE Asia division.