Homeless for the holidays

Local veterans share stories of life on the streets
By EARL KELLY, Staff Writer
Published December 24, 2007
Magnetic ribbons on the back of cars read "Support our troops" and hint at heroic struggles endured for a grateful nation. But the veterans living on cots in homeless shelters around Anne Arundel County this holiday season tell another tale.

In interviews over the past two weeks, The Capital listened to seven homeless veterans - six men and one woman - who served honorably in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. They were medics, security officers, supply clerks, weapons specialists and aircraft mechanics. They served, on average, five years, and their pay grade when discharged ranged from low-level enlisted ranks to the mid-level, from E-3 to E-6.

Their average age today is 48, and their slide into homelessness didn't come all of a sudden.
Rather, these people have spent years spiraling downward to where they are today.

Five of the vets were interviewed at Gloria Dei! Lutheran Church in Arnold, which is one of the churches that participates in the Winter Relief Program. Two others were interviewed at The Light House Shelter on West Street in Annapolis.

Most of the seven vets grew up in Anne Arundel County, and all of them now call its towns and communities home.
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