posted on July 5, 2006 05:32:41 AM new
July 04. 2006 10:02PM
INSTEAD OF DUMBO BUSH DOING CHEAP PHOTO OPP AFTER CHEAP PHOTO OPP. GEO BUSH SHOULD BE AT HIS DESK WORKING ON THE PROBLEM OF 200,000 AMERICAN TROOPS BEING HOMELESS.
READ THE ARTICLE BELOW AND TELL ME GEO BUSH REALLY CARES ABOUT OUR TROOPS. HE ONLY TALKS BIG BUT IN REALITY KEEPS FAILING OUR BRAVE TROOPS. SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS IS JUST ANOTHER NEOCON LIE!!!!!!
Homelessness a Threat for Iraq Vets
By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Herold Noel had nowhere to call home after returning from military service in Iraq. He slept in his Jeep, taking care to find a parking space where he wouldn't get a ticket.
"Then the nightmares would start," says the 26-year-old former Army private first class, who drove a fuel truck in Iraq. "I saw a baby decapitated when it was run over by a truck - I relived that every night."
Across America on any given evening, hundreds of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan like Noel are homeless, according to government estimates.
The reasons for their plight are many. For some, residual stress from daily insurgent attacks and roadside bombs makes it tough to adjust to civilian life; some can't navigate government assistance programs; others simply can't afford a house or apartment.
They are living on the edge in towns and cities big and small, from Washington state to California and Florida. Some of the hardest hit are in New York City, where housing costs "can be very tough," says Peter Dougherty, head of the federal government's Homeless Veterans Program. Studio apartments routinely exceed $1,000 a month - no small sum for veterans trying to land on their feet.
As a member of the National Guard, Nadine Beckford patrolled New York train stations after the Sept. 11 attacks, then served a treacherous year in the Gulf region.
But when she returned home from Iraq, she found her storage locker had been emptied of all of her belongings and her bank account had been depleted. She believes her boyfriend took everything and "just vanished."
Six months after her return to America, she lives in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, sharing a room with eight other women and attending a job training program. Her parents live in Jamaica and are barely making ends meet, she says.
"I'm just an ordinary person who served. I'm not embarrassed about my homelessness, because the circumstances that created it were not my fault," says Beckford, 30, who was a military-supply specialist at a U.S. base in Iraq - a sitting duck for around-the-clock attacks "where hell was your home."
It was a "hell" familiar to Noel during his eight months in Iraq. But it didn't stop when he returned home to New York last year and couldn't find a job to support his wife and three children. Without enough money to rent an apartment, he turned to the housing programs for vets, "but they were overbooked," Noel says.
While he was in Iraq, his family had lived in military housing in Georgia.
In New York, they ended up in a Bronx shelter "with people who were just out of prison, and with roaches," Noel says. "I'm a young black man from the ghetto, but this was culture shock. This is not what I fought for, what I almost died for. This is not what I was supposed to come home to."
There are about 200,000 homeless vets in the United States, according to government figures. About 10 percent are from either the 1991 Gulf War or the current one, about 40 percent are Vietnam veterans, and most of the others served when the country was not officially at war.
"In recent years, we've tried to reach out sooner to new veterans who are having problems with post-traumatic stress, depression or substance abuse, after seeing combat," says Dougherty. "These are the veterans who most often end up homeless."
About 350 nonprofit service organizations are working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to help veterans.
But the veterans still land on a hard bottom line: Almost half of America's 2.7 million disabled veterans receive $337 or less a month in benefits, according to the government. Fewer than one-tenth are rated 100 percent disabled, meaning they get $2,393 a month, tax free.
"And only those who receive that 100 percent benefit rating can survive in New York," says J.B. White, a 36-year-old former Marine who served with a National Guard unit in Iraq. His colon was removed after he was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis, which civilian medical experts believe started in Iraq under the stress of war.
"I'd be homeless if it weren't for the support of my family," says White, who is trying to win benefits from the VA. He also helps others, like Beckford, as head of a Manhattan-based social service agency that finds non-government housing for vets.
Noel now attends a program to get work in studio sound production. He was the protagonist of the documentary film "When I Came Home," which was named best New York-made documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival this year.
Just after the news reports about his plight, he learned the government was granting him the 100 percent disability compensation he sought - after being turned down.
Noel doesn't blame the Army, which "helped make my dreams come true," he says, recalling the military base life in Georgia and in Korea that his family enjoyed before his deployment to Iraq.
"I had a house, a car - they gave me everything they promised me," he says. "Now it's up to the government and the people we're defending to take care of their soldiers."
posted on July 5, 2006 07:09:32 AM new
This is Bush's fault because he sent them off to HIS war and he used them up and has now discarded them. He is supposedly the leader of a wealthy nation but doesn't care about the troops after they come home. He didn't plan the war and still has no plans and he didn't plan to take care of the troops afterwards either so many have to face another fight for survival right at home. It's a disgrace and reflects badly on all of America who is not at fault for this.
posted on July 5, 2006 11:15:26 AM new
stonecold613,
I can see you couldn't care less what happens to American Troops and Vets.
The truth is coming out about all you CON-servative "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" phonies. Its very good that phonies like you are being EXPOSED and REDUCED to near ZERO.
Come one,come all to the GREAT AMERICAN PROTEST on November 7th 2006.
posted on July 5, 2006 11:32:00 AM new
Hey peepa, what exactly would you suggest be done about this supposed situation? I don't see you putting any real thought into this. I just see you blowing more hot air.
posted on July 5, 2006 12:03:39 PM newI can see you couldn't care less what happens to American Troops and Vets.
Sure I do dumbass. Fact is, we have the fewest number of casualties of any major war in American history. And every one of your posts proves it. I do however am more concerned to what will happen to our civilians if we pull out now and do nothing. It will be much worse. But then again, you don't have a clue about those kind of situations.
.
.
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Many misleading tricks in 2006. The new Demomoron slogan.
posted on July 5, 2006 12:41:55 PM new
I would sure like to see where it is stated in their form DD 4/1 military enlistment contract that they would live the life Orielly after their military service ended.
With that being said, I will say now that in the State where I live, preferential treatment is given to Veterans in numerous programs set up to help the less fortunate and I imagine it is the same in every State and Territory in the union and I agree whole-heartedly that they shoud recieve preferential treatment.
If veterans leaving military service cannot navigate these programs, it is not the Presidents fault.
And what did the military personel that now find themselves in this predicament do with their military pay when they were on leave? Did they spend it at every whore house like drunken sailors in port or did they put some away for when their military service ended??
The married ones of course had to use their pay for the upkeep of their families but there too, if they lived on base housing and ALL military bases have child care set up to help married spouses of soldiers so they can work to make a better life for themselves, did they just sit on their fat asses and let the government take care of them or what??
I could easilly argue that the President kept up his end of the contract but what would be the point, being as this is a contrived situation that is being used to bash the President. What I think is funny is who jumped in on your bandwagon peepa, to further use this contrived situation to bash the President right along with you.
Can you say dumb?
In this case I think Stonecold's chant is highly appropriate.
posted on July 5, 2006 02:45:43 PM new
so speaketh the dumbass canadian.
If you morons had actually read the article you would see that these are people who don't want to take responsibility for their own actions and what has led them to this.
posted on July 5, 2006 03:44:12 PM new
Hey,
See the replies from the NEOCONS, you can tell the ones here don't really give a DAM about our soldiers.
This bunch wouldn't even hand out a few bucks to a HOMELESS VET BEGGING ON A STREET CORNER.
piinthesky ASKED
"Hey peepa, what exactly would you suggest be done about this supposed situation?"
My answer, I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE OUR TROOPS HAD ENOUGH MAN POWER AND EQUIPMENT. THAT WOULD HAVE BROUGHT LESS DEAD AND WOUNDED.
I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE THAT AFTER MY MISTAKES IN THE IRAQ WAR SHOWED UP. MISTAKES THAT PRODUCED A LOT MORE WOUNDED AND DEAD TROOPS. I WOULD MAKE SURE PROGRAMS GEARED TO HELPING OUR TROOPS AND VETS WERE FULLY FUNDED AND EXPANDED TO FIT THE EXTRA NEED MY MISTAKES AND INCOMPETENTS CAUSED.
I WOULD HAVE BEEN A PRESIDENT THAT DIDN'T JUMP INTO A WAR. A WAR THAT NOW I DON'T KNOW KNOW HOW TO WIN OR MANAGE.
YOU ASKED WHAT I WOULD DO? TODAY I WOULD IMPEACH GEORGE BUSH AND SEND HIM TO JAIL. STRAIGHT TO JAIL FOR THE HARM AND DAMAGE HE HAS BROUGHT TO AMERICA.
NEOCONS SAY THEY SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND VETS. BUT I BELIEVE ONLY AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T COST THEM A FEW BUCKS IN TAXES TO FULLY FUND OR EXPAND PROGRAMS FOR THE TROOPS AND VETS.
posted on July 5, 2006 03:46:31 PM new
so speaketh the dumbass canadian.
If you morons had actually read the article you would see that these are people who don't want to take responsibility for their own actions and what has led them to this.
My oh my..is this the same Ron who entered the RT with a broomstick up his arse telling everyone that he wouldn't tolerate name calling or disrespect?? oh yeah.. tsk tsk tsk
posted on July 5, 2006 05:02:40 PM newpiinthesky ASKED "Hey peepa, what exactly would you suggest be done about this supposed situation?"
My answer, I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE OUR TROOPS HAD ENOUGH MAN POWER AND EQUIPMENT. THAT WOULD HAVE BROUGHT LESS DEAD AND WOUNDED.
I WOULD HAVE MADE SURE THAT AFTER MY MISTAKES IN THE IRAQ WAR SHOWED UP. MISTAKES THAT PRODUCED A LOT MORE WOUNDED AND DEAD TROOPS. I WOULD MAKE SURE PROGRAMS GEARED TO HELPING OUR TROOPS AND VETS WERE FULLY FUNDED AND EXPANDED TO FIT THE EXTRA NEED MY MISTAKES AND INCOMPETENTS CAUSED.
I WOULD HAVE BEEN A PRESIDENT THAT DIDN'T JUMP INTO A WAR. A WAR THAT NOW I DON'T KNOW KNOW HOW TO WIN OR MANAGE.
I wasn't asking what you would do if you were President. I was asking what your suggestions are to be done about this supposed situation. There is a big difference in the way that I asked it and the way that you interpreted my question.
YOU ASKED WHAT I WOULD DO? TODAY I WOULD IMPEACH GEORGE BUSH AND SEND HIM TO JAIL. STRAIGHT TO JAIL FOR THE HARM AND DAMAGE HE HAS BROUGHT TO AMERICA.
How is that any sort of a solution to your supposed situation?
Really peepa, don't bother answering my questions. I'm just messing with you. I realise that you don't have the intelligence to give an answer that is worthy of consideration, so don't even bother, ok.
posted on July 5, 2006 05:34:48 PM new
'in reality vendio don't give a rats ass.'
Sure they do. You just have to go through proper channels and send your complaints to the right person. By the way where is Logansdad anyway? Have you noticed that no one has been suspended since he's been gone?
posted on July 5, 2006 08:26:29 PM new
HEY GEORGE BUSH INSTEAD OF BEING OUT AT PHOTO OPS ALMOST EVERYDAY, GET BACK TO YOUR OFFICE AND START FIXING SOME OF THE HARM YOU BROUGHT TO AMERICA AND ITS PEOPLE.
It surely is a shame that the NEOCONS can take the bad being done to OUR fine American Troops and Vets so lightly.
THESE NEOCON LIARS SAY "SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" THEN STAND SILENT WHILE DUMBO BUSH SCREWS THE TROOPS AND VETS OVER.
THE NEOCONS ON THIS BOARD TRULY ARE PATHETIC PEOPLE. BUSH HAS REDUCED HIS FOLLOWERS TO ALMOST AS PATHETIC AS HE IS.
posted on July 6, 2006 07:47:51 AM newPresident Bush is not responsible for these people, it is called not looking ahead and making bad choices.
Ya right, how could I forget you only operate on simplistic thinking, Ronnie. Guess they should have been looking ahead and lining up housing and jobs while on the battlefield. They should have made sure to take that extra armor with them so they wouldn't get hurt or they should have ducked faster or fought harder so they wouldn't get insulted when Bush compared his scratch from a tree branch to their missing limbs. Yup, they gotta keep quiet like you wish the rest of us would do and just suck it up and keep lauding their leader and pretending nothing like this is happening just as you do, right?
My oh my..is this the same Ron who entered the RT with a broomstick up his arse telling everyone that he wouldn't tolerate name calling or disrespect?? oh yeah.. tsk tsk tsk
Go easy on the boy, Maggie or his Momma is going to come storming in here again to protect him or else she'll take a jab at you on the other board to get even.
posted on July 6, 2006 11:31:20 AM new
LOL Kiara, I noticed the jab too! That woman really has a hard on for me, doesn't she..
What did I ever do to her to make her hate me so?
posted on July 6, 2006 11:46:46 AM new
ronnie pooh,
I forgot to tell you I personally know a Marine that served 4 years and received an Honorable Discharge.
This Marine came home looking to start his adult working life. He looked for over a year for a job that paid enough so he could move out of his parents house. The only full time jobs offered to him around here were 6 or 7 dollars an hour jobs.
I have known this YOUNG MARINE since High School. He was always a nice kid,a good worker and came from a decent middle class family.
Today this Marine just got out of a Drug Rehab center. NEOCONS like Punky ronnie will say this Marine made wrong choices in life.
I say this Marine was helped big time down the wrong choice road by the job market. The job market created by DUMBO BUSH and his GANG OF CON-SERVATIVE THIEVES.
AMERICA,START TAKING BACK OUR DEMOCRACY FROM THE NEOCONS ON NOVEMBER 7th 2006.
