Tampa's Homeless veterans (how much, home, contractors)

[jambo101]

• Ability of the contestant to motivate other forum users to create informative posts by starting engaging forum threads or by posting engaging posts, without provoking emotional responses or disrupting normal on-topic discussion.
• Ability of the contestant to bring up and sustain discussions of topics that have not been previously extensively discussed in a given forum.

[stpeteguy]

Originally Posted by TampaKaren

This just breaks my heart

Number of homeless veterans in the area spikes

This is a republican state. Nobody cares about the downtrodden, the poor, the sick, the disabled or those who otherwise can't fend for themselves. Sad...

[The b8nk]

Originally Posted by stpeteguy

This is a republican state. Nobody cares about the downtrodden, the poor, the sick, the disabled or those who otherwise can't fend for themselves. Sad...

What are you doing to help the aforementioned besides whining about the "injustice" on CD Forums?

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by stpeteguy

This is a republican state. Nobody cares about the downtrodden, the poor, the sick, the disabled or those who otherwise can't fend for themselves. Sad...

check out a pie chart of the Federal Budget sometime and see how many social programs this country has.....

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Having lived the military life for 20+ yrs, I witnessed so many members of the military living well beyond their means. They're buying new BMWs, large $30-40k SUVs, buying new homes when knowing they're going to move in 2-3 years and have to sell them. I could go on. Many have large families when their finances can't support that. Members get use financial reimbursement for travel - when the gov't moves a family they pay for household goods, vehicle and temporary hotels. If I looked into the budgets of family members on food stamps, I bet I could find a huge number of unnecessary purchases (big screen TV, cars, vacations). Also, some Soldiers enter the military with huge families because they couldn't find work in the private sector - the military pay at lower enlisted level (ie private in the Army) may have a hard time supporting a family of five or six. Most privates in the Army are 18-20 yr olds without kids. In all my time in the Army, I never had a problem with what I was getting paid - of course I managed my money pretty well, too.

I refuse to depend on Fox, CNN, MSNBC for my news. I try to listen to a combination of several sources. I find all of them sensationalize their news a bit to attract viewers.

The pay for enlisted men it's very low, i remember recruiters selling kids on the idea of right after they enlist they can take their paycheck to any dealer and get a car based on their separation date, I seen squad leaders sending soldiers to a dealerships where their brother works, or a payday loan place, as much help as there is for soldiers there is also a whole predatory industry feeding on them. I don't want to judge and I haven't read up on the stats but I would willing to bet that the great majority of homeless veterans are not a case of being down in their luck but rather have a deeper problem mental problem.

[BucFan]

Wonder how many of these downtrodden vets have stepped a foot out of our country. I was involved with a lot of mental evaluations for separation of Soldiers who weren't made out to be Soldiers and were separated. They shouldn't have ever been allowed in the ranks. These folks are part of this homeless crowd. The entire story isn't being told by CNN/FOX/MSNBC. The definition of a veteran isn't necessarily those who went overeas to fight. I think it takes just a few month in the service to qualify as being a "vet".

[TampaKaren]

I didn't post to create dissension. But, I did quietly wonder when the soldiers returned home from the last war, what would they do and where could they work. I suppose the economy and politics has something to do with it but not all of it for sure. My husband and neighbor were both drafted to Vietnam. Both saw combat they never want to re-live and neither talk about it. It was a bad experience. Fortunately, neither are homeless. Though, my neighbor has some repercussions from Agent Orange.

[todd00]

Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT

The pay for enlisted men it's very low, i remember recruiters selling kids on the idea of right after they enlist they can take their paycheck to any dealer and get a car based on their separation date, I seen squad leaders sending soldiers to a dealerships where their brother works, or a payday loan place, as much help as there is for soldiers there is also a whole predatory industry feeding on them. I don't want to judge and I haven't read up on the stats but I would willing to bet that the great majority of homeless veterans are not a case of being down in their luck but rather have a deeper problem mental problem.

The pay for a basic airman E-1 is $17,892 with under 2 years service. An E-2 makes $20,056 with under 2 years. Now what expenses do these young kids have, they live on base, so no housing rent, utilities or health care insurance. And they also receive food allowances, and single Airmen may opt to receive meal accounts that allow them to eat as many as four meals a day in the on-base dining facility for free. So for a young kid with a high school diploma this is such a bad deal? And they do have many options to continue schooling. I read that since 1980 college tuition has risen 600 percent above inflation. Getting help with schooling is important to most that go in. Now if they get married young, have several kids and especially if their wife doesn't also work, then it can be tough. But the same holds true for those young people outside the military without education beyond high school and with several kids. And will their jobs be there tomorrow, not much employment security left anymore. Times are hard for all but the rich, job security is worth a lot, today you find many underemployed educated folks that are working for a low wage given their background. And you find educated people that have had their unemployment benefits run out and been forced to grab some low paying Walmart type job just to survive.

Everyone has a story. Many of the returning vets have PTSD, which make it very hard for them and their loved ones. I think a good number of those on the streets are probably suffering with that. But being down on your luck can create deeper problems for the vets too, even if they previously had no prior mental health problems. This can be especially true if they have no support structure to help and understand them and what they thought they had as assets in life a wife and a home, family, friends, job possibilities are now all gone. That's a tough hand for anyone. With deep depression often comes attempts at self medication and frustration with the system. The shrinks at the VA really don't understand and most don't care, they get paid no more for the tough cases and they aren't going to go out of their way much. They do know all the meds to shove at the vets. Though their formulary is small and they often don't get the latest new drugs right away and may have to request them for a vet. Some patients are not properly diagnosed, with Bipolar often being overlooked in favor of treating it as major depression. They are lazy as a rule and real empathy seems to not be in their genetic make up. The psychologist knows all the terms to label, but they do not understand the feelings anymore than the shrink does. This is the norm rather than the exception, you may feel more like a number than a name. Vets get tired of having meds shoved at them, being shoved out the door and then told to stay on it even when the side effects get bad. After all the doc doesn't have to cope with it, so easy to say keep on with it. Some get tired of going there and feeling misunderstood and uncared for and ending up with no more answers, that can erode hope too. That's why some give up on getting help through the VA for these kinds of problems. As a disabled vet, that has used the system for many years this is what I've seen. Some facilities are obviously better than others.

[Matt518]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Disagree - poster is one of the best on CDF.

lol, ok

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by Matt518

Well, as someone who served, I found your comment to be ignorant and offensive and contributes nothing to the topic. It's ok though, you're free to have whatever opinion you want - many people have served and died to ensure you have that right (and maybe that's why some people enlist). I just find it disappointing that that's the opinion you choose to have.

I posted the links to just a few of many out there describing some of the negative aspects of active duty and of returning soldiers and vets, Out of curiosity i merely ask the question of what motivates people to join up after reading such articles i'm labelled ignorant and offensive?..
Matt i think you are reading more into my original post than was actually intended as i have nothing but admiration, respect and thanks for the service of those that served.