Supporting our Veterans When a young man or women decide to enlist in the United States Military they know they are putting their lives on the line for their country and there is a possibility they will not come home. Typically, when a man or women is stationed in a different country, they stay there for 6-18 months depending on the assigned mission. After people in the military retire, they get a certain amount of money and benefit depending on their rank. With the benefits and money in place one might think a veteran will live a comfortable life. However, veterans have a significant chance at becoming homeless due to low socioeconomic status and mental health disorders. After someone in the military retires, they get a small amount of money with some pretty good benefits. Such as veteran pension programs, free or low cost medical care, and disability compensation if needed. However, sometimes these benefits and small amount of money aren’t enough. Roughly 10 percent of veterans become homeless. Also, veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder have a much higher risk of becoming homeless than someone who does not. While deployed in the military, a significant amount of people encounter a tragic incident that change their lives forever. Nearly half of retired military …show more content…
Why should we give them more benefits after they are done serving? Why should we support PTSD victims if they knew what they were getting themselves into? Well, anyone who puts their lives on the line to serve and protect their country deserves a secure home for them and their family. Also, veterans enlisted in the military to protect you and your family while you stayed stateside and worked at your office job. It does not matter if they stormed the beaches of Normandy or if they were stationed in a peaceful country, we should honor and support their sacrifices they made for their
Murray, and Deborah are among some 50,000 veterans who are homeless, or 1.4 million who are considered at risk of homelessness on any given day, due to poverty, lack of support networks, and marginal living conditions in substandard housing, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They, and all those who put on the uniforms of our nation 's armed services, sacrifice so much to defend the freedoms that we all enjoy and take for granted. Far too many, however, come home unable to defend themselves from the ravages of combat.” (Cole, 2015, Para. 23). Cole also goes on to continue stating “Providing shelter to our female and male veterans is not enough; it is simply one step. The transition from soldier to civilian is often the most difficult part of a veteran 's life. Yet the hardships of going from combat to job application, mortgage payments and working a typical 9-to-5 job, far too often are after-thoughts on the post-military agenda. It is no wonder that long after their active tours, many veterans continue to fight to reclaim their health and well-being.(Cole, 2015, Para.
America is the land of opportunity and the land of second chances. People come to America to live a better life, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. When Veterans come back home, all they want is a second chance at life again. They want to come back and be able to start from where they left off. But the government has done very little to help these veterans. The government believes they have done enough with the programs they have created, but it hasn’t had much of a change. The purpose of this essay is to discuss my opinion and what I know about this issue, to benefit The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who are my intended audience. If the government were to put a lot of effort, like they do for pointless issues, there wouldn’t be many struggling veterans. If the government does more to improve every aspect of the reintegration process of veterans, so many benefits would come out of this action. There are a couple of reasons for why we should work toward improving veterans lives. First, there would possibly be a decrease in the veteran suicide levels and a decrease in the substance abuse aspect. Second, less veterans and families will have to worry about living and struggling with mental illnesses. Third, by improving the economical aspect for these veterans, more will find jobs and less will end up on the street homeless. And lastly, the reintegration process won’t be as hard for these veterans, and they will be able to resume a normal life. This essay is not meant to offend in any way, its purpose is to provide a new perspective over this issue, to cause a change for the better.
Today we will be talking about homeless veterans and what I believe should happen to them. First I believe that all veterans deserve a home, food, running water and some money. I believe that the department of veterans affairs should get on this because according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
While soldiers are away from home, many things might change that they aren’t there for, for example, family problems and disasters. In addition, veterans might come home to a whole different world than when they left, and this already makes their lives more challenging to go with these changes. In addition, soldiers might also come back with physical injuries, like a lost limb, or loss of hearing. As a result, this makes everyday tasks much harder than they actually are. Veterans also might be mentally scarred from war. For example, a mental disorder called post traumatic stress disorder, makes life for the veteran and family much
Data indicates that it takes years for the trauma associated with military combat to appear, hence the name post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After the Vietnam War it took nine to twelve years before veterans began showing up at homeless shelters in large numbers. It’s unfortunate that ANY veteran who we reposed special trust and confidence in would someday find themselves living on the street at ANY point in their life.
Veterans need to be taken care of medically, mentally, and financially, as promised by President Obama. "It's a commitment that begins at enlistment, and it must never end. But we know that for too long, we've fallen short of meeting that commitment. Too many wounded warriors go without the care they need. Too many veterans don't receive the support they've earned.
The Military draft is the random selection of qualified citizens of the United States, that is put to use when a crisis occurs, like a war. When American citizens reached age 18, they had to sign up for eligibility to be drafted to go to war for their country. Throughout the country’s history, the requirements and limitations of drafting have changed. The draft has been going on since colonial times in America in order to fulfill the country’s military needs when there were not enough volunteer fighters for the military. The total amount of soldiers that one side has fighting for it is an important factor in any type of battle so getting the necessary amount of fighters is crucial. The draft assures everyone that this military need is satisfied at any point in time. Many people feel like the draft is not fair and not “American” and the draft has seen so much conflict since its invention. Throughout the history of the United States, the military draft has been a very important, yet highly controversial topic at the same time.
Veterans who have long services and are influenced by the military’s training have struggles with their civilian life after separating the military. They have to start from the beginning with their stressful, impatient, and painful. On the other hand, our Congress have mandated some benefits for all veterans to share their endurance. However, there are some reasons that many veterans cannot get any benefits from the government like some homeless veterans can’t afford themselves and their family, which is telling our society need to care more about them. For the reason that, our society should take more action to help veterans because of their services and scarified
Envision a man that sat on a grimy concrete block, as nightfall began to crystallize before his eyes. His hair, charcoal-grey, was matted and straggly, as if he had ever known the pleasure of a hot shower or comb except when he was in the war. His once shimmering brown eyes were know hollow and cold. His eyes, that were once filled with the upmost blissfulness, now sagged like the bulky bags underneath his eyes, consumed by the loneliness and despair he felt for himself, for his lack of purpose in life. This man did not bare a smile, only crinkles where one used to be. He wore his only faded blue jacket with a tan shirt tucked underneath it. He wore cruddy worn out jeans that barely seized his thin waist and boney legs. His only pair of shoes that were once white, we're now grungy. His finger nails were bitten and dirty. This man, like many other homeless veterans, struggle everyday of their lives.
One reason people think this is because “younger people that are enlisted in the military are not wise with their money they earn”, (debate.org, 2017). People may think this because some people that come out of the military are homeless because they are not used to having benefits after they are out so they tend to spend more. This statement is false because the military is trained to use their money properly just as they trained to do other things such as protecting the United States and other countries.
We see these people everyday; we thank them for their service. There is several holidays to honor them. Some are our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, or even someone that we hold dear to our hearts. They are our veterans of many wars and conflicts that America has been in. We salute them, give them parades, and special parking at different establishments. However, what about those who return from war with nothing? No home, family, and money for whatever reasons. They are homeless veterans.
Growing up I always had to deal with the fact that my father was involved in the military. My father was deployed twice: once in Germany, and later to Kuwait. I was only four years old when he first traveled and almost every day I asked where dad was. The second time I was fourteen, and I was devastated that my best friend wasn’t going to be home for a year. Both times he left, it was awful for my mom, my brother, and me because he was the one person that kept us together as a family and once he was gone we were just broken. A military family goes through more than a regular family does in a year. Those veterans have families, how do people think they feel. Children who live in a military family have a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental issues. Although many people believe that we should send our soldiers overseas to keep our country safe, there is no reason why our
39,471 veterans are homeless, 91 percent are males, and 54 percent have a mental and or physical disability. That’s currently in the United States of America and most of those consist of veterans from the Iraq , Iran, Afghanistan and the Vietnam war. With the resources that are offered now days, in the United States the amount of homeless veterans is too high. However, many services and programs offer help to get them off the streets and to be cared for if needed.
Soldiers, both men and women, risk their lives fighting for our country and when they come home they receive far fewer benefits than would be expected. Throughout history the support for veterans has lessened. The amount of money that is provided to veterans for healthcare and housing after returning to the states has severely decreased since WWI.
People that fight for our freedoms end up on the side of the street begging for a meal. That is morbid to think about. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) it states that “In January 2014, communities across America identified 49,933 homeless veterans during point-in-time counts, which represents 8.6 percent of the total homeless population.” The numbers are outstanding for how many homeless veterans there are. I have experience with my dad being a veteran, he served 25 years and he does not get any benefits compared to the people that are currently in the military. This needs attention because to this day there are still homeless veterans out on the