FAREWELL TO CLAY, Does anyone really care?

“In life he had nothing: no money, no home, no family.

In death he had a full-dress honor guard,

prayers from a holy man and tears from grateful strangers.

Thomas Allen Clay, a Minnesota native, Vietnam veteran

and man of the streets,

was buried in full military tradition Friday at the South Florida National

Cemetery west of Lake Worth, the area's only veterans cemetery.”

The above caption introduced an excellent article written by the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel reporter Robert Nolin in a recent edition of the newspaper*. A well balanced, sensitive and informative article, it dealt with a topic which, as a society, we have been trying to ignore for a very long time but some how continues to grow with each passing year.

Mr. Nolin, in a precise and accurate assessment, described the situation in the following terms:

“Clay represents a larger problem:

One in four homeless people are veterans,

but given the fluidity of their existence, hard figures are elusive.

Estimates of their numbers nation wide, range from 107,000 to 250,000.

Various groups peg Florida's homeless vets at between 8,600 and 19,000.

Whatever the statistics, they are a presence in Florida,

the state with the third largest number of veterans.”

Other authoritative sources have confirmed these statistics in a number of studies. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that in any given night more than 200,000 Homeless Veterans walk the streets. Even the official Government estimates (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs) place the numbers at 131,000 in any given night and approximately twice that number experience homelessness over the course of a year.

Many causes have been ascribed to this abnormally large percentage of the homeless population. Clearly social isolation, unfortunate economic conditions and inadequate housing opportunities all play a major role in its etiology as well as the gross inability of the V. A. system to respond to the enormous demands. But equally important, is society’s ambivalence to the peculiar needs of these unfortunate people and its desire to ignore them by consigning them, and isolating them to its rubbish heaps that is the homeless population.

Some of the causes among returning veterans that have a high correlation with homelessness are Mental Health problems resulting from Post-traumatic Brain Injuries(TBI) or Stress Disorders (PTSD) causing significant impairment in normal function, difficulty in maintaining stable relationship and increased tendency to unstable behavior. In addition the high rates of Alcohol and Drug abuse, the unrealistic multiple combat deployments and the extended separation from family and employment only served to damage the family commitments and encourage conflict after returning. It is no surprise that more than half the homeless veterans find themselves involved with law enforcement. Many of these being the result of reports originating from members of the public who demand that they be put away “for good”. (In this context I am reminded of Willy the Vagrant about whom I previously referenced in a fictional essay, who was banned by the local police from coming for his morning coffee as the result of the complaint of an insensitive mother because he might “act out” in front her child).

There is no question in my mind that Society’s attitude to its homeless veteran population is correlated to the actual conflict that produced these veterans. The veterans of World War II, a popular war that involved the entire population, were far better assimilated and cared for than those of the very unpopular and to some experts, unjustified Vietnam and Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts.

The majority of the older homeless veterans saw active duty in Vietnam, but unfortunately their ranks are rapidly being filled by new “recruits” from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Even more tragically, these include both male and female soldiers with much more serious disabilities and more serious management problems involving children. When this is added to the very large population of very seriously injured veterans who normally would have died from their wounds but who have survived as a result of miraculous advances in medicine, the final picture is mind boggling.

Although we were assured by current Secretary of Veteran Affairs, General Eric K. Shinseki, that “No one who has served the United States in uniform should ever end up living in the streets”, the fact is the V.A. system is so overburdened and underfunded that, with all the best intentions, it is virtually impossible to achieve much more than provide where possible, a full military burial and a grave site in the local National Cemetery. Until then, it would seem that we are committed at best, to continue to treat our veterans in the manner described by General Shinseki himself:

“When I arrived, the homeless program primarily involved engaging veterans

that sleep on the streets and getting them to shelter.
The deeper I dug into it, I realized that it assured that we’d be dealing

with homeless veterans forever, because the system is reactive.
You wait to see who shows up on the streets, you go out and try to encourage them

to leave the streets and provide them safe shelter and warm meals.”

The real truth is that until genuine and serious efforts are made to address the underlying causes of homelessness among veterans, including the reckless commitment of soldiers to unjustified, unwarranted and extended conflicts, this tragedy will continue to plague America’s societies. And people like Clay will continue to live in artificial oblivion, hidden away from the rest of us and upon dying we try to sublimate our guilt by providing a full military burial with a full dress honor guard.
……AS IF CLAY REALLY CARED!



*http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-veteran-funeral-20100924,0,2532974.story