ABC News:9 thousand homeless veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan

Coming Home Homeless: The New Homeless Among Veterans
Veterans From Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Seek Homes Upon Returning to America

2 comments By BOB WOODRUFF and IAN CAMERON
WASHINGTON, Dec 26, 2010

Jose Pagan is a decorated veteran who survived two tours of duty in Iraq as a road clearance specialist. Just three days after leaving the military he was homeless and living on the streets of the Bronx.

Jose says being homeless after his service is something he never would have imagined. "It was embarrassing," Pagan says.

"Honor, pride, duty, loyalty, all these things that we -- that kick in as a soldier, you know. And then to find yourself here," as he points to the park benches where he slept for almost two months.

Pagan is one of an estimated nine thousand returning servicemembers from Iraq and Afghanistan that the Department of Veterans Affairs estimates have been homeless.
read more here
The New Homeless Among Veterans

'This Week' Transcript: Gen Peter Chiarelli
Plus, the story of a New York Times reporter captured by the Taliban


AMANPOUR: IN THIS SEASON OF GIVING, SOME OF THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THE MOST, FIGHTING FOR THEIR COUNTRY HAVE COME UPON HARD TIMES.

RETURNING TO THE HOME OF THE BRAVE, FOR THOUSANDS OF MILITARY VETERANS, HAS MEANT NO HOME AT ALL.

MANY VETERANS OF AMERICA'S WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE FINDING THEIR TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN LIFE OVERWHELMING.

SOMETIMES COMPLICATED BY POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, UNEMPLOYMENT AND DIFFICULTY ADJUSTING TO ORDINARY LIFE AFTER THE EXTREME ENVIRONMENT OF COMBAT, THOUSANDS OF VETERANS HAVE BEEN LEFT HOMELESS.
read more here
'This Week' Transcript: Gen Peter Chiarelli