Another Veterans Day has come and gone and millions of people took the time to pause and say “THANK YOU!” And our government once again paid lip service to the problem by placing wreaths and bowing their heads in a short prayer for those who gave us the greatest gift in the world: Freedom!
I say lip service, because, are you aware that (according to The Military Wallet):
• More than 968,000 veterans lived in poverty in the last year.
• Twenty thousand veterans with government-sponsored mortgages lost their homes in 2010.
• Seventy-six percent of homeless veterans experience alcohol, drug, or mental health issues. And of those homeless veterans, 89% received an honorable discharge, 67% served three years or more, 47% are Vietnam veterans, 15% served before Vietnam and 5.5% are Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
• Almost nine out of 10 received an honorable discharge. Two out of three served at least three years
Those stats should be enough to know these veterans did their job honorably and likely performed at a reasonably high level.
What was the budget for veterans in 2022?
It was $338.73 billion, and still we have 968,000 veterans living in poverty.
We also have multiple volunteer organizations providing food, shelter and mental health to veterans, and I don’t know how many millions of dollars each of those have raised.
We need to take a long, hard look at the budget and see why we are spending almost $3.5 billion and yet we still have 968,000 veterans living in poverty.
We also need to reappraise all veterans’ services, including services to their families.
They gave their limbs, their minds and their very lives for us. What are we giving them in return?
Ron Perry
Canyon Country
