20,000 War Vets Living On Florida Streets; 1,400 In Central Florida

20,000 War Vets Living On Florida Streets; 1,400 In Central Florida

POSTED: 5:42 pm EST January 23, 2008
UPDATED: 10:58 pm EST January 23, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- More than 20,000 military veterans in Florida are homeless, living in a kind of war zone they had never imaged -- on the streets and in the woods.

A former U.S. Marine named Pete who once lived in Cocoa Beach with a great view of the ocean is now one of Central Florida's 1,400 homeless.

Pete lives in the woods.

"I got a tent in the woods. I'm not going to a shelter," Pete said. "I'm a carpenter by trade and I just need to get back to work."

Pete said the housing market crisis put him out of work.

Another homeless veteran, Curtis, worked heavy machinery repairing dams and sinkholes after leaving the U.S. Air Force.

His company stopped operations in the United States, leaving him homeless.

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