One of the ways I invest my time is as a volunteer helping with a network of homeless shelters here in Kansas, mostly helping set up networking systems so that different shelters can better coordinate the needs and abilities they have in different cities such as Wichita, Topeka or Kansas City. Mostly along the lines of helping organize food drives, clothing drives, helping locate employment and counseling services, ect. Some time ago I began chatting with a fellow vet named Mark. Mark had enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2000 at the age of 19 and served three tours in Iraq, along with one tour in Afghanistan. Before Mark joined he had married his high school girl friend. During his 2nd tour in Iraq his wife left him for her boss, apparently she worked as a legal secretary.
In 2007 Mark was wounded in the leg by an IED, the wound was not severe and he was able to return to full duty and pulled yet another tour in Iraq after recuperating. Mark was honorably discharged in 2010 from the U.S. Army. From our discussions I found out that Mark's family lost their home in 2009 after his father lost his job that he'd had for 22 years, his mother had cancer and passed away just after the new year. Mark had also been diagnosed with PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, because of this, he couldn't deal with a lot of things and began to drink alot. Mark went through what savings he had while trying to find a job with a living wage. When he could find a job, he didn't stay at it very long and would get fired for drinking. He did this for almost a year and a half. Mark worked as a carpenter, when he could find work. When he couldn't, Mark collected aluminum cans and old car batteries and sold them to a scrap yard in the city in which he lived.
Mark lived in an old 80's model ford econo-van that he bartered his carpenter skills for. This American Veteran slept in a sleeping bag on the steel floor of a rusted out van with his tool belt and a few bags of clothes. His meals consisted of what he could get at a homeless shelter or dig out of the dumpster behind fast food restaurants.
Some time ago Mark was apparently woken in the middle of the night by police officers. The city in which Mark lived has passed several laws over recent years designed to basically make being homeless a crime. Laws against loitering, public camping, and so on. Mark's van was having mechanical issues and he hadn't been able to start it for a couple of days. I had gone to auto-zone and bought a new starter for Mark, we were going to change it out that next weekend. The police ended up apparently arresting Mark for "loitering" and cited him for illegal tags and no insurance. They also had Mark's van impounded along with everything he had in it, I guess this was the last straw. I found out later that Mark, a vet with a purple heart and with 4 combat tours in service to his country was found in a public restroom dead, apparently a suicide.
I do not understand this country any more. I wore a uniform, just like Mark did, just like millions of Americans have. I believed in defending my country and the freedoms most people take for granted. I listen to the political argument and the discourse and the bickering and I've always had faith that, in the end, this nation will do right by it's defenders, that we, as a people, are basically good and just. I now think we have lost our way. We depend on men and women that answer the call to wear the uniform to defend us, then cast them aside and whine about the cost of taking care of our veterans. I have read and heard people who look upon our military vets as no more than "hired security guards" and that they shouldn't have to dole out more tax dollars to take care of people who are no-longer serving in uniform, or call disabled or homeless vets "freeloaders". I find that attitude disgusting and despicable and am ashamed to call these people my countrymen. Where were they when bullets were flying? Where were they when IED's were exploding? Where were these "patriots" when other men and women were laying down their lives to defend this nation we love so much? Where were they?
Veterans deserve respect. They also deserve help when they need it. They answer the call and wear the uniform and stand their ground to defend this nation. People who have never served a day and yet complain about the budget or about taxes to help care for, educate, provide jobs, provide housing and food to our veterans need to think about that before they shoot their mouths off in my not-so-humble opinion… . These people need to be thankful to the men and women who have the honor, dignity, and back-bone to defend this country and these "patriots" in their sleep.