Navy vet, now homeless and suffering from PTSD, part of Occupy

Reporters have been very lazy on the Occupy reporting. Most have taken the easy way out instead of talking to the people trying to change things. They come from all walks of life but as most reports are tied to the Iraq veteran Scott Olsen, there are many, many more suffering when they come home after all their service to this nation.

Politicians make the rules and fund the programs but it is the men and women risking their lives paying the price. It is the men and women dedicating their lives to making a difference for others paying the price for what they do. The truth is the values of the elected have been corrupted and people no longer matter unless they are wealthy. If we can't take care of our veterans, what chance does anyone else have?

Occupy Asheville expresses solidarity with Oakland march

By Bill Rhodes on 11/02/2011

About 100 Occupy Asheville marchers — along with a number of visitors from the San Francisco/Oakland area — marched from the local group's former Lexington Avenue campsite, up the hill to College Street and then to the U.S. Federal Building. Along the way, the marchers were met by several police officers, who directed them to get and stay on the sidewalk. The marchers ignored them.

The group continued to the Federal Building, trailed by a dozen police vehicles, sirens running. Other officers blocked off traffic on side streets. At the Federal Building, the march reversed course and headed for Vance Memorial.

Once there, the marchers chanted a variety of slogans and held signs up for all to see. After it appeared they were not leaving the monument property, the APD left the scene.

The protesters went through a series of speakers, each using the "crowd mic" technique: The crowd repeats what the speaker said so all can hear. There was a Navy vet, now homeless and suffering from PTSD. A woman from San Francisco said she had lost all at the hands of the government, and her sister was being held in some kind of lock-down at her Army base so she would not go AWOL. An older man related how he was from the "Viet Nam generation" and felt this movement was more profound and needed.
read more here