We neglect our veterans to our shame

We neglect our veterans to our shame
Stamford Advocate - Stamford,CT,USA


Staff Reports
Article Launched: 11/12/2008 03:00:24 AM EST


Somehow, somewhere the plight of some veterans became lost in the excitement and hubbub of the national election. In a preview to Veterans Day on Tuesday, it was disclosed that 1,200 veterans of the armed forces are homeless in Southwestern Connecticut. That should not be. Consider that those same veterans served us and protected us from harm. Most of them served overseas in faraway lands, fighting desert sands and other discomforts. They risked their lives every day fighting for our freedom. Why there are not places for them to live is beyond me, and is in a word, shameful.

As a veteran myself, I find that some of our comrades, even those separated from us by a generation, are basically forgotten.

It wasn't always this way. There was a time when we did a much better job of living up to our obligations toward our veterans. Following World War II, veterans came home to temporary housing. Quonset huts were erected on public land. Here in Stamford, that kind of housing was established in Shippan adjacent to Cummings Park. Other, more conventional housing was constructed on city-owned land on High Ridge Road where Rippowam School now stands. They were attractive Cape Cod-style cottages. Many World War II veterans received their re-start and return to family life as they knew it in the temporary housing.

There are some shelters for homeless veterans in Connecticut. In Bridgeport, for example, where they are provided with housing, instruction in the use of a computer,
and programs to help them gain employment. But they are shelters, pure and simple. Not enough.

The questions posed here is: If the government can pour billions of dollars into the banking community, something, by the way, that should be rescued, why hasn't adequate money been set aside to care for our veterans? Not only as far as housing and jobs are concerned - but what about health care and rehabilitation?

Remember the conditions that were discovered at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington - literally under the noses of the administration and our legislators in the Congress? It is almost as though the thinking was, "Send them off to battle with a parade and hugs from their families, and we will think about health care, jobs and their general well being when we get around to it."

We didn't know about the terrible conditions at Walter Reed until reporters from the Washington Post newspaper exposed them. What would conditions be like today if those reports had never come out? The disclosure spirited some good citizens to become active in helping veterans, including a group that established a state-of-the-art hospital for veterans in Texas. But more is needed as the wars go on and service people return with arms and legs missing and need help.
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