Once-homeless veterans get medals at Mount Vernon ceremony

"Neither of these guys even knew that they were highly decorated soldiers," Dubose said.

Once-homeless veterans get medals at Mount Vernon ceremony

By AMAN ALI
THE JOURNAL NEWS


(Original publication: November 23, 2007)
MOUNT VERNON - The lupus that has eaten away at nerve endings in Larry Cammon's body caused him to quiver as he pointed to Vietnam War wounds on his arms and legs.


The veteran spent the past two years of his life homeless on the streets of Mount Vernon, trying to make ends meet with the $235 a month he receives for having served his country.


"I've been sick for a long time," Cammon, 61, said this week. "The (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) hasn't been giving me the best of care. It's hard, man. It's really, really hard."


Cammon and another formerly homeless Vietnam veteran, Teddy Sanders, 61, found themselves lifted up by their home city on Wednesday, however, when the men were honored by Mayor Ernest Davis at an awards ceremony, during which they were presented with the military medals they had earned for their service -including Cammon's Purple Heart.


The city first learned about Cammon and Sanders through its homeless outreach program. After learning last month that the men were veterans, caseworkers notified Will Dubose, director of the city's Veterans Service Agency.


Dubose looked into their service records and said he was "surprised" at what he found.

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I hope this answers some questions on the kind of veterans who end up walking our streets, sleeping wherever they can and eating when they can.