Why does Johnny come marching homeless?

[Capper]

LEEDS, Mass. - Peter Mohan traces the path from the Iraqi battlefield to this lifeless conference room, where he sits in a kilt and a Camp Kill Yourself T-shirt and calmly describes how he became a sad cliche: a homeless veteran.
There was a happy homecoming, but then an accident — car crash, broken collarbone. And then a move east, close to his wife's new job but away from his best friends.
And then self-destruction: He would gun his motorcycle to 100 mph and try to stand on the seat. He would wait for his wife to leave in the morning, draw the blinds and open up whatever bottle of booze was closest.
He would pull out his gun, a .45-caliber, semiautomatic pistol. He would lovingly clean it, or just look at it and put it away. Sometimes place it in his mouth.
"I don't know what to do anymore," his wife, Anna, told him one day. "You can't be here anymore."
Peter Mohan never did find a steady job after he left Iraq. He lost his wife — a judge granted their divorce this fall — and he lost his friends and he lost his home, and now he is here, in a shelter.
He is 28 years old. "People come back from war different," he offers by way of a summary.
This is not a new story in America: A young veteran back from war whose struggle to rejoin society has failed, at least for the moment, fighting demons and left homeless.
But it is happening to a new generation. As the war in Afghanistan plods on in its seventh year, and the war in Iraq in its fifth, a new cadre of homeless veterans is taking shape.
And with it come the questions: How is it that a nation that became so familiar with the archetypal homeless, combat-addled Vietnam veteran is now watching as more homeless veterans turn up from new wars?
What lessons have we not learned? Who is failing these people? Or is homelessness an unavoidable byproduct of war, of young men and women who devote themselves to serving their country and then see things no man or woman should?

Why does Johnny come marching homeless?

[Jokerswild]

The armed forces are good at training soldiers but they are very poor at returning civilians. I don't know the answer but you would think by now someone in authority would have some programs set up to return our boys to at least the semblance of a normal life.

[Zambini]

I don't want to sound like one of those people, but maybe there isn't a government program so people like him would believe going back to the army is the only way to be happy again? If I were the army I'd want my soldiers to stay a soldier until they retired as a high ranking officer.

'course, that doesn't explain why there isn't a NPO or something.

Its sad that veterans aren't treated with what they deserve. :(

[Capper]

Z brings up a good point. The military tries to ingrain that whole "This is all you have, there is nothing else" mentality in its troops. The problem is that when they have no use for you, they toss you aside like a used diaper (I used this analogy so Joker could relate).

I was severely reprimanded once for not chaptering two soldiers who failed a drug test (they had both used crystal meth). While I agreed they should be chaptered out of the military, I argued that I would not do it until they had gotten the counseling and due process they were allowed. In the end, both were sent to counseling before being out-processed.

As to myself, I was labeled a troublemaker after standing up for my soldiers, and my chain of command fucked with me at every opportunity. When I was seriously injured, it was all the excuse they needed to push me out the door......and during my out-processing, I came to realize what a joke the military system for returning people to a civilian life was......bad doesn't even begin to describe it.

[Jokerswild]

My boss in California who served in Vietnam hired a ex soldier that had some mental issues from serving there. He did fine sometimes but every once in awhile he would go off on a tangent and freak everyone out. Anyway one day he came to work wielding a machete and fortunately he put it down before anyone got hurt but they had to let him go. I also had a friend that came back with issues after his lifelong friend died in a helicopter that exploded right after he got him into it for evac. Thats just the 2 I know and I imagine that you can up that by some number to the nth power for all the ones that have come back. Trouble is there's not much I could do other than be there to try and help when needed and there was no other support then just as now.

[Reloadron]

I for a good part blame the government. Every person who experiences the horrors of war seems to return different. Some are not that affected by where they were and what they have seen, while others never return to a normal adjusted civilian life.

The veterans of WW II to my way of thinking had it really bad. The actual horror and battle of WW II seemed to exceed any of the subsequent wars. Yet, I don't recall reading about the sort of problems I seem to see today. Looking at the massive numbers of troops I would have expected large numbers of mental problems on a percentage basis. Did we just not see them? However, following WW II the VA was there with countless help programs. Everything from medical, to VA backed home loans, to paid tuition and higher education programs.

My little war was Vietnam. The biggest culture shock was realizing you had to be civil and the things you did daily in Nam were not acceptable here. When I left Nam I simply left! Bad dreams for a few years then things went fine for me. However, I remember all too well two brothers I grew up with. Bright kids, athletic and in every respect normal. Both returned home totally wacked out. Their "help" from the VA consisted of meds. They never readjusted and were declared certifably insane. They were awarded 100% disability and their days consisted of hanging in a local bar. That was about the extent of their lives and funds. They are both dead today. Looking at my own group and Vietnam it is unusual how some returned pretty much OK, while others in a sense never left Nam. The VA was not the same VA that WW II veterans returned to. There was less funding and poor treatment. Why did some of us return and readjust while others never really came home?

Now looking at Desert Storm, Afghanistan and Iraq. We just seem to have disproportinate numbers. More and more totally screwed up returning veterans getting less and less much needed help.

Capper pretty much nailed it in my opinion. They use and abuse the troops then discard like a used rubber or diaper (for the benifit of Joker). I have friends who work at Wade Park a local Cleveland VA hospital. Kathy and I frequently send things for the vets. The overall quality of care could be better. Funding! A lack of funding! The government had the money to engauge in war but seems woefully inadequate having the money to treat those who served. Something is very, very wrong with the picture.

The VA has slowly erroded since WW II. Veterans benifits and care have erroded. I don't know why war effects some people in some ways and others in other ways. I do know something is very, very wrong.

Ron

[screwballl]

Let me start by saying I love these men and women that fight for our freedom. I think they should be given almost anything for free that it takes to live for the first few years after arriving back from even a 6 month battle event.

I see it one of two ways (but they kind of mesh with each other):

1) If they can survive overseas shooting a gun and helping to secure our lifestyle, they should be able to get off their ass and get a job, even if it is something small to begin with. Theres always the civil service and the weekend warriors. I have known plenty of them that have come back thinking that they should get a $20-40 an hour entry level job simply because they were military and when they can't get it they go into a depression spiral that goes much like this story. These are the cases where the only ones they have to blame is themselves. They have had others take care of them so long that they choose to not become a part of society again simply because it does not meet their expectations.

2) There are psychological changes that happen when they are in constant battle for months or years on end that affect an individual. What we need is a "reintroduction" program that helps the person or family financially and psychologically with specifically trained prior military psychiatrists that can help them vent and get resituated back into a normal life. Some people do not have the proper mental capacity to do this on their own.

In both cases this program should help them get back to a normal life. This should be a specific provision in any federal budget without the possiblity of being cut by the pork barrel spenders and the anti-military Dems. Housing allowances, food budgets, utility payment assistance, weely or bi-weekly psychological visits both in and out of the home...
There is so much that can be done but no one is willing to step up and get it done. As long as the government fat cats are sitting fat and happy giving themselves the annual 20% pay increase, they can care less about those that are fighting for them or those that elected them.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Capper

Z brings up a good point. The military tries to ingrain that whole "This is all you have, there is nothing else" mentality in its troops. The problem is that when they have no use for you, they toss you aside like a used diaper (I used this analogy so Joker could relate).

When you're in you're a Guest, when you're out you're a Pest.