They Just Don't Know Where To Look

A Life Aloft

Well-Known Member
“Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes ………. they just don’t know where to look.

The sloping hills of Arlington National Cemetery, with it’s row upon row of simple white markers bearing crosses or stars of David, they add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom. Their lives ended in a place called Belleau Wood, the Argonne, Omaha Beach, Salerno, and halfway around the world on Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Pork Chop Hill, the Chosin Reservoir, and in a hundred rice patties and jungles of a place called Vietnam.” Ronald Reagan

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Our Veterans have faithfully served this nation and it’s citizens since the Revolutionary War. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, our current Military members are spread across the globe in service to this country. The men and women of this nation came forward, rose up, served and continue to serve this country. They risked/risk their lives and answered the call. They served/serve in honor, courage, strength, integrity, commitment, valor, character, bravery, sacrifice, dedication, endurance, and excellence.

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They have missed the birthdays, the anniversaries, the holidays, the school plays, the births of their children, the touch of a loved one’s hand, the simple pleasure of sleeping in and upon wakening, relishing the feel of a comfortable mattress, a soft pillow, a warm blanket and countless other life events which are forever lost to them.

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Our Veterans have served each and every one of us. It is now our duty, our commitment and our job to re-pay that service. We owe these men and women far more than can ever be re-paid. Everyone should be searching online, checking out and supporting a number of the charities, private organizations and foundations that help our Veterans. Everyone should be looking for how and where they can volunteer their time for our Veterans or donate some items/goods. No effort is too small, but no effort at all is just shameful.

Battle Cry - 22 until none!!! Each year, some 8,030 Veterans take their own life. 1 in 5 suicides deaths in this country, is a Veteran. We ARE our brothers keepers. Each and every one of us. We cannot allow this to continue.

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There are over 630,000 homeless people in America. 67,495 are Veterans. It amazes me that in today’s society, that about one third of the adult homeless population in this country, are Veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 107,000 Veterans are homeless on any given night.

A total of 61.7 percent of Veterans (24,690) have experienced homelessness in sheltered locations. 38.3 percent (15,330) are in unsheltered locations.


  • Over 968,000 Veterans lived in poverty in the last year.
  • 20,000 Veterans with government sponsored mortgages lost their homes in 2010.
  • 76% of homeless Veterans experience alcohol, drug, or mental health issues.
    30.2% of Veterans ages 18-24 are unemployed.
  • 89% received an honorable discharge.
  • 67% served 3 years or more.
  • 47% are Vietnam Veterans
  • 15% served before Vietnam
  • 6% are Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.
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In addition to the complex set of factors that affect most homeless individuals lack of affordable housing, poverty, job or income loss, mental illness, substance abuse, health problems, etc. many Veterans live with the lingering effect of PTSD, often compounded by a lack of family and social support networks. Military occupations and training are not always transferable to the civilian workforce, placing some veterans at a disadvantage when competing for employment.

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The realities and statistics of our modern day Veterans:
About one-in-five Veterans today served on active duty after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Their collective experiences – from deployment to combat to the transition back to civilian life, are markedly different from those who served in previous eras.

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Because they are more likely to have been deployed and to have seen combat and often were deployed multiple times. Post 9/11 Veterans are also more likely to bear the scars of battle, whether physical or not. Roughly half say they had emotionally traumatic or distressing experiences related to their military service, and about a third say they sought professional help to deal with those experiences. Regardless of when they served, about one in five Veterans said they have struggled with substance abuse in the first few years after leaving the military.

About 41 percent of those who served after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in Afghanistan, Iraq and other war zones have disability ratings from the Department of Veterans, compared to 25 percent of Veterans of other eras, according to the annual survey of Veterans employment and status by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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in 2018, BLS said that "41 percent of Gulf War-era II Veterans had a service-connected disability, compared with 25 percent of all veterans."
For Veterans who served post-9/11, 41 percent, or 1.7 million, reported a service-connected disability in August 2018, and nearly half of those had a service-connected disability of 60 percent or more, BLS has stated.

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Of the total 326,000 unemployed Veterans in 2018, 54 percent were ages 25 to 54, 40 percent were age 55 and over, and six percent were ages 18 to 24.

Throughout history our Veterans have put their lives on hold and at risk, to protect our country. They have stood up for us and we need to do the same for them.

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I am asking, that whenever you can, donate your money, your time or items/goods, to Veteran causes. Above all others, they deserve our support first.
 
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Today, there are more than 16 million living Veterans who have served during at least one war and 5.2 million Veterans who have served in peacetime. Two million Veterans are women. More than seven million Veterans served during the Vietnam War and 5.5 million served during the Persian Gulf War. Two million Veterans served during the Korean War and 16 million served during World War II.

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Today, some 72,641 American Military members remain unaccounted for from WWII.

7,606 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.

In 1973, when the Vietnam POWs were released, roughly 2,646 servicemen were designated as “missing in action” (MIA). As of 2017, the figures are about 1,350 prisoners of war unaccounted for, and roughly 1,200 reported killed in action and body not recovered. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of the U.S. Department of Defense lists 687 U.S. POWs as having returned alive from the Vietnam War.

126 service members remain unaccounted for from the Cold War.
 
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