Homeless Veterans: Whose Responsibility?

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Veterans and their advocates in southern California, the epicenter of veterans’ homelessness, are angry that President Obama and the Veterans Affairs Department have not built a single bed for homeless disabled veterans on the 400 acres the government owns in West Los Angeles, property that was deeded to the federal government for that very purpose in 1888.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/opinion/homeless-veterans-whose-responsibility.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121009

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1. The government is to blame.

As soon as those men signed on to fight for their country, they became the government's responsibility. Their wounds, their mental health, the stuff the war did to their brains and their abilities, all of it. That's the bargain.

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3. PTSD, Economics and Suicides

The high rate of Vets comitting suicide is tied intimately to their PTSD. Economics is also intimately tied in here as well. Many if not most of these vets diagnosed with PTSD are disabled in such a way that it affects their employability. Many are 100% unemployable. Anotherwords sick and broke with little to no hope for a betterment in their lot.

Yes, it is true that the VA is trying to help these Vets out. They can apply for disability. It can provide them with a small monthly check, with food and with a roof over their head but due to backlogs it takes on average a year and a half to process their claims. Worse yet, even though a doctor has diagnosed the Vet to be disabled that is no guarantee that the VA will grant the Vet any aid at all!

The long wait, the not knowing combined with the PTSD sickness is taking its toll on our Vets. Put yourself in this situation: You can not work, you really don't give a fuck anymore, and the only net is one that might be dangled out for you a year and a half in the future. Is there any wonder why many of our Vets are seeking the 'easy way out'.