I've been thinking lately

[lynettebro440]

and that can always be a scary thing, but hear me out. For those of you that remember Vietnam, remember the guys that came back and were forgotten about? I've been thinking of them lately with the new influx of "war veterans" that have been returning from Iraq. Remebering Vietnam vets, it reminded me of a guy that I met a couple of years ago that lived under a bridgeway in Delray Beach, FL. He was homeless, about 50ish and had surrendered the world to be a small spot carved out just for him and his life. He lived under the bridge and I lived by him for a few days myself when I became down on my luck by trusting the wrong people. I am reminded of him alot these days for many reasons.

People never got down underneath the bridge much to meet "Tom". Nobody in Delray would have ever wander over to him and ask him what his name was, he was known as the "bum under the bridge." I wandered over to him one day and asked him what his name was. That's how I know about "Tom" under the Delray Beach bridge in FL. I had nowhere else in the world to stay, so Tom offered me a space.

I understand why the world has continued on this crazy path when I think back to those couple days that I had the privledge to live next to Tom. No one wants to look at people down on their luck. People with expensive cars and fancy outfits drove and walked by everyday and looked at Tom as if he was an eyesore to them. What they didn't know was that Tom fought in Vietnam, that he never really was able to forget what it was that he witnessed over there, and nobody really wanted to know so he never told. He lost everything, his wife, his kids, his house and his mind. He gave it all up for a sensless war that people forgot about.

I think about Tom and wonder how he is and then my mind moves forward in time and I think about all the young men and women that are returning from Iraq with the same horrors that Tom had witnessed, with the same change in their personalities that no one can understand unless you lived through it and it makes me wonder how many of them will end up in a place under the Delray Beach bridge. I wonder how many of the rich, republicans that walk by everyday will bother to go down under the bridge and ask them what their name is. I think instead they will simply drive over the top of the bridge in their SUV's and their "I support the troops" magnets on the side of their cars and never bother to meet who it is that they are placing in harms way by supporting this war. I wonder what Tom would have to say right now. Thanks for listening.

[kentuck]

1. Thanks for your comments, lynette...

Several of us have been "there"...

[driver8]

2. Excellent post! My dad had a friend who came back from Vietnam

and couldn't stand to be around people. He lived in the woods of Maine, alone, for about 2 years. No one heard from him, saw him, or was even sure if he was alive.

I have a feeling that the vets coming back from Iraq are going to need a lot of help; and I am afraid that the help they need is not going to be there.

Just a hunch...

[jojo54]

3. Very nice lynette

There are still things, to this day, that my husband won't talk about. I feel bad for "Tom", but I feel worse for the ignorance of some people.

[knowbody0]

4. man oh man, i hear you with a lump in my throat

i recommend "winning the hearts and minds" a film about the realities of Vietnam.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. That's the documentary on Info house

You can see that documentary at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info And the Bush administration is doing nothing to help these young men and now women.

[Solly Mack]

5. Thank you..that was wonderful!!!!

[SeattleGirl]

6. Thanks lynette

It's sad that so many people are "invisible" -- not just vets, but whole families who have lost everything, and so many people don't even give them a thought, let alone any help, or even just do what you did and take the time (when you yourself were down on your luck) to look them in the eye and acknowledge their presence, and take a few moments to find out who they are and a little of their story. I've worked with homeless alcoholics and drug addicts, and while certainly their addictions were part of the problem, they aren't throw-aways.

Years ago, a friend and I were getting married around the same time, and we were headed to downtown Seattle to go shopping. We went through the Pioneer Square area (the older part of Seattle). There are a lot of people hanging out on benches, drinking cheep wine out of bottles in paper bags, but that is only the most visible face of homelessness. My friend made a rather unkind remark about them, so I took some time to educate her about the bigger face of homelessness -- families, vets like Tom, a whole variety of people. I was patient and did not jump all over her or anything. I just really wanted her to understand more about homelessness and those who are homeless. When I finished, she looked at me and was nearly in tears. She said, "God, I never realized that." I don't think she sees even the folks on the benches in the same way. This is a very nice person who was just uneducated about this problem, and to her credit, was willing to listen and learn.

So again, thanks for the post, and to Tom, where ever you are, I hope you are well.

[lynettebro440]

7. Actually

I had met Tom before, that's how I knew he was there and I had a place to stay when I became homeless myself. But your right, I had never really met a homeless person before him.

[FreedomAngel82]

8. I wonder and worry about that too

Especially with how Bush treats our veterans. He slashed them through his 2006 budget and now according to military.com they will be cut even more with money. I remember last year reading an article on ABC's website about how veterans were returning home to poverty. VETERANS! These people who sign their lives to the government and then when they are called to duty do their job and then once they're done they're forgotten about. I also am worried about their psyche's. How will they be when they get back? Will families and loved ones be able to help them? What if they don't have any families or loved one's? Over 60% of our men and women who return home have some brain damage. What about those with young children? How will they survive when they don't have a job or health insurance and mental help? All I know we can do is as a community try to help them. On http://www.informationclearinghouse.info they have a documentary about Vietnam vets who are living on the streets of DC. It's really heartbreaking. :cry:

[jim3775]

10. That reminds me of a website I saw that freaked me out

and really made me sad.

It was a forum for Iraq war veterans and thread after thread was:

"PTSD- help needed"
"PTSD, should i talk to my CO?"
"how to deal with PTSD."

Reading through some of the threads the posters recounted the horrible nightmares and hallucinations, someone posted that he needed to set off firecrackers to keep sane. Other people were addicted to the adrenaline rush of combat and couldn't cope with being home.

How many of these men will end up abusing their wives and children? How many will commit suicide? How many will turn into "Tom" or Tim McVeigh?

[Eloriel]

11. I guess it will surprise you that

there are many of us of my generation -- boomers, the Vietnam generation -- who opposed the war at least in part for this very reason.

Some of us are keenly aware that a large percentage of our homeless population is comprised of Vietnam vets. We are keenly aware that more Vietnam vets died from suicide after Vietnam than during the war itself. And then, of course, there's the slow suicide of alcohol and drug addiction which has so afflicted our brothers (and perhaps a few sisters).

We know that there are few in Washington who are aware or give a damn about these forgotten people, but among those very few who do is Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia.

I am so very, very glad that you have overcome the circumstnaces that caused you to have to bunk with Tom, but I'm glad that Tom was a good teacher to you, and I thank you for your eloquent post.

So yes, you're right: our Iraq War vets are going to need some serious help. Perhaps more than our Vietnam vets, if that's possible, because I get the impression this war is even MORE corrupt, even MORE senseless, even MORE brutal and barbaric (rife with war crimes) than its predecessor.

I also worry greatly about the depleted uranium, and the napalm said to have been used in Fallujah, and knows what the hell else. We haven't yet solved the agent orange problem from the Vietnam era, or Gulf War Syndrom from the Gulf War -- all additional reasons we oppopsed this immoral, unethical, unjust and unjustifiable war.

[me b zola]

12. "In Exceisis Deo"

That is the name of a "West Wing" episode that dealt with this issue. Toby was contacted because a homeless man who died on the street had his business card in his pocket (Toby had recently donated the coat to charity). Toby found out that the man was a Korean War vet, and sought out to find his family. One of my favorite episodes, because it dealt with how we treat our vets, how many of them are so isolated and die alone on the street.

I worry, too, about our returning vets. They are nothing more than cannon fodder to this malAdministration. It is one of the few issues, though, where the Dems have had *any* success at shaming the rethugs. This is an issue where we have seen some limited ability to force the Senate to hear us and demand better.


Thank you for your post. Again, you made me cry.

[cry baby]

13. Thanks for reminding me what our fight to end the war is all about.

It's about "Tom" and all the "Toms" that will be.

[AuntieM1957]

14. Gratitude

is what I feel when I read a post like yours, Lynette. And all the replies as well.

Grateful for a place where those of like minds and hearts can meet. Because in the midst of the madness, it sometimes hurts so damn much to think that no one understands the real danger to humankind that this administration and those who blindly follow it represent.

You people give me hope, and I thank you.

[BedRock]

15. Thanks

Beautifully said. A reminder that there are more wounded than the ones that will get the purple heart.

After the Gulf War, the military was forced to deal with the emotional problems of the returning Vets. All they did was increase the number of questions that the soldiers have to fill out upon release. Of course, there are no questions asking if they had shot anyone... The form does ask if the individual needs psychiatric help. If they get it ... it lasts only about 6 weeks. Also they are stigmatized by others for asking for help. Then I read the statistic that there is a 50% upward increase in divorce amongst the returning troops.

I was living in D.C. during Vietnam, and I remember all to well, the soldiers getting ready to leave...and the soldier who came back lost. I know that a lot were helped by St. Elizabeth's Hosp., a large psychiatric institution. I also remember Perez Ronnie forcing a lot of the patients back out onto the streets. God, that was so sad.

History tends to repeat itself. Will we ever learn?