One in Four, A Travesty

Data collected by the Department of Veterans Affairs suggest that 23%, just shy of one in four, of all the homeless population, is comprised of men and women who have served their country. SERVED THEIR COUNTRY! One in four! One in four! I cannot get my mind to wrap around this shameful figure. Day after day people look away from these brave men and women who our government threw away. Maybe one or two throw them some loose change. Others curse them and suggest they get a job or pull their straps up. No one walking the street in nice clothes with gainful employment can understand the shame, pain, and stigma associated with these unfortunate souls. Most will never know the horrors that they have traversed and for them to just be breathing is a miracle. In many cases, it is not as simple as just washing off and starting over. These people have been failed from the highest levels all the way to the streets they now have to sleep on. Research shows that the numbers are decreasing, but I am at a complete loss on how these people, who in many cases gave part of their soul, were allowed to fall so far, to begin with. It is shameful, inexcusable, and the weight of it falls on us ALL, because we, by inaction, allowed them to be forgotten and discarded by the nation they kept safe and free. One in four.

Our Brothers Before Others

I definitely understand diplomacy and the importance of maintaining global relationships. But it scrambles my brains trying to comprehend how we, as a nation, could justify sending billions…..BILLIONS….in foreign aid to counties where the majority of the citizens would not spit on us if we were on fire while we have the tattered vets who are just ghosts of their former selves going hungry and sleeping on exhaust vents to fight off freezing to death. It is not just the fact that we are not being good stewards with public funds, it is deplorable and criminal.

I try to not let myself work myself into a fury and the article becomes a rant. I feel that calm, intelligent discussion is the key to any problem, but what we have done to the homeless vets causes my spirit to weep and makes me ashamed to be an American. But, as I mentioned above, the government is not solely to blame. We all share a burden of guilt for this tragedy. We as individuals can do more by joining veteran organizations, donate to veteran charities, and contact your elected officials to demand change. Above all that, we can simply care. Buy a homeless person a coffee and sit down for a few minutes to share a human connection. Let them know we care by our actions, not just our rhetoric. Come on folks, not only can we do better by the heroes, we are better as a nation than this. Any nation and society can be fully judged by how they meet the needs of their broken warriors. God is crying at what we have done. We have to find a way to turn one in four to none in four and we need to do it yesterday! Godspeed Roughmen.

Originally published on Steemit.
https://steemit.com/life/@papacrusher/one-in-four-a-travesty

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