Why are so many American military
veterans sleeping on the streets tonight?
“Every day across the country
military recruiters stand in front of high school
students and tell them how military service is a
great opportunity to build a career. Tell them how
the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force are a sure
ticket to a strong start in life and how through
serving their country they also are taking care of
themselves. What they don't tell them is that they
might find themselves sleeping on the streets of the
very country they fought to defend when they come
home. The face of homelessness in America is
changing- military veterans have always been at
increased risk of homelessness, but in the wake of
Iraq and Afghanistan more young veterans are finding
themselves without a home in the aftermath of their
military service. Through the end of September, 2012
26,531 of them were living on the streets, at risk
of losing their homes, staying in temporary housing
or receiving federal vouchers to pay rent, the
Department of Veterans Affairs reports. That's up
from 10,500 in 2010. The VA says the numbers could
be higher because they include only the homeless the
department is aware of.”
Percentage who actually have served their Country
in the military Something to think about! Received
from a friend and I think very well done: I remember
the day I found out I got into West Point . My mom
actually showed up in the hallway of my high school
and waited for me to get out of class. She was
bawling her eyes out and apologizing that she had
opened up my admission letter. She wasn't crying
because it had been her dream for me to go there.
She was crying because she knew how hard I'd worked
to get in, how much I wanted to attend, and how much
I wanted to be an infantry officer. I was going to
get that opportunity. That same day two of my
teachers took me aside and essentially told me the
following: Nick, you're a smart guy. You don't have
to join the military. You should go to college,
instead. I could easily write a tome defending West
Point and the military as I did that day, explaining
that USMA is an elite institution, that separate
from that it is actually statistically much harder
to enlist in the military than it is to get admitted
to college, that serving the nation is a challenge
that all able-bodied men should at least consider
for a host of reasons, but I won't. What I will say
is that when a 16 year-old kid is being told that
attending West Point is going to be bad for his
future then there is a dangerous disconnect in
America, and entirely too many Americans have no
idea what kind of burdens our military is bearing.
In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four
years. In Vietnam , 4.3% served in 12 years. Since
2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the
Global War on Terror. These are unbelievable
statistics. Over time, fewer and fewer people have
shouldered more and more of the burden and it is
only getting worse. Our troops were sent to war in
Iraqby a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with
only one person having a child in the military.
Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds
were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the
average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and
has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to
out of the goodness of their hearts. The only people
who have sacrificed are the veterans and their
families. The volunteers. The people who swore an
oath to defend this nation. You stand there,
deployment after deployment and fight on. You've
lost relationships, spent years of your lives in
extreme conditions, years apart from kids you'll
never get back, and beaten your body in a way that
even professional athletes don't understand. Then
you come home to a nation that doesn't understand.
They don't understand suffering. They don't
understand sacrifice. They dont understand why we
fight for them. They don't understand that bad
people exist. They look at you like you're a machine
- like something is wrong with you. You are the
misguided one - not them. When you get out, you sit
in the college classrooms with political science
teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and
Afghanistan because YOU WERE THERE and can't
understand the macro issues they gathered from
books, because of your bias. You watch TV shows
where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at
that. Your Congress is debating your benefits, your
retirement, and your pay, while they ask you to do
more. But the amazing thing about you is that you
all know this. You know your country will never pay
back what you've given up. You know that the
populace at large will never truly understand or
appreciate what you have done for them. Hell, you
know that in some circles, you will be thought as
less than normal for having worn the uniform. But
you do it anyway. You do what the greatest men and
women of this country have done since 1775 -YOU
SERVED. Just that decision alone makes you part of
an elite group. "Never in the field of human
conflict has so much been owed by so many to so
few." Winston Churchill Thank you to the 0.45% who
have and continue to serve our Nation. The photo above of this poor gal breaks my heart. She is an American Veteran. We have lost more women in combat in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars than all the other women lost in the history of this country. It is hard to imagine or accept the fact that so many of these brave women are now homeless, out of work, strung out on drugs and booze or suffering severely from PTSD caused by neglect, war or service related sexual assault or harrassment. This past month, our fearless leaders have decided to lift the ban on women in combat and have thrown 350,000 into Harms Way. Look at the face on this poor gal! How can we allow this?
This is the album that put me on the map. I produced this back in 1986 in Nashville and created the "New Country" sound. Several of the songs on this album made the charts, and are still being played all over the world. And, now, Pandora.com, Pandora Internet Radio is playing all of my music. All you have to do is log on to Pandora.com, and then type in "LT Bobby Ross", and you are instantly hearing my music. Back in 1986, and now, I am a staunch advocate for the American Veteran and the American fighting men and women. Hit the link below and you can hear my most recent work. I am in the process now of recording a new song, "She Was A Soldier" about, you guessed it, our American Women Soldiers.
