OPIS Foundation

More than a decade after the end of World War I, the "Bonus Army" descended on Washington - demanding immediate payment on benefits that had been promised to them, but payable years later - and were routed by the U.S. military.

And, most publicly and perhaps most painfully, there was Vietnam: Tens of thousands of war-weary veterans, infamously rejected or forgotten by many of their own fellow citizens.  However, for many of these veterans, the life stresses which resulted in their homelessness took a decade or more to surface.

The concern among many veterans organizations is that the number of servicemen and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq and becoming homeless in a very short time is growing faster and at a much higher rate than has been seen in previous wars.  Providers are worried that with reduced budgets at social service agencies and sluggish charitable giving due to the economic downturn, many of these returning heroes will not receive the help that they need. 

The Afghan - Iraq Veteran  

In many respects, the returning veterans of the Iraqi and Afghan wars are little different from returning veterans of previous conflicts.  For many, their service training does not translate into job skills needed in the civilian economy.  Many are not prepared to move from a life where virtually all of their needs are met by Uncle Sam to a life where they have to provide these needs for themselves.   Many suffer stresses from battlefield injuries or as a result of what they may have seen or done in the battle zone. 

However, there is evidence that the veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars face a set of unique stresses and circumstances which are causing them to become homeless and require services provided by society and charities significantly sooner than in past wars.  Financial troubles and the difficulties in finding affordable housing lead the list of difficulties faced by these returning veterans. 

Deployment to a war in a foreign land today results in a financial burden for the families of our soldiers.  For reserve and national guard troops, monthly pay may be significantly less than earnings from civilian employers.  For active military personnel, as well as reserve and national guard troops, deployment often means significantly increased costs for transportation, communications and child care.  Many families which were "getting by" while the soldier was home, have a nearly impossible task of making ends meet when the soldier, whether man or woman, is deployed.  Many veterans are coming home to a stack of bills and the stresses of knowing that their "service to their country" is a big part of the cause.  Their families know it, and they know it. 

Finding affordable housing is a difficult task for many Americans and is particularly difficult for veterans who have inadequate job skills and lack of financial stability.  In many places in the US, large numbers of veterans are spending more than 50% of their net income for housing.  The result is that it can take only a relatively small obstacle to force a veteran and his family into moving in with family members, into a shelter, or into living in their car.  

Unique Stress Factors  

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have some unique factors which are seen by the Veterans Administration and other service agencies as significant causes for earlier distress among returning veterans of these wars.  These are multiple deployments and the "no safe zone" wars. 

"There's something about going back, and a third and a fourth time, that really aggravates that level of stress," says Michael Blecker, executive director of Swords to Plowshares," a San Francisco homeless-vet outreach program.  A veteran who survives one deployment with all of the mental stresses which are part of it has an extremely difficult time winding down from one deployment when they face the probability of having to go through it all again, and maybe even a third or fourth time.  As a general rule, if a soldier who survived a tour in Vietnam or Korea did not face a second or third tour. 

Veterans groups and the Veterans Administration are seeing large numbers of veterans with mental distress caused by the unique war on terrorism being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.  In the past, there were areas away from the "front lines" where soldiers could regroup and prepare for the next battle or campaign.  While never completely "safe," they were able to get some relief from the tensions of battle.  Most of the time, that is not the case in Afghanistan or Iraq. 

In Afghanistan and Iraq, identifying the true enemy is an extremely difficult task.  Friendly people in the daytime often become enemy soldiers at night.  Coupled with the proliferation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the lethality of modern weaponry, our soldiers in these two warzones do not get the relief from battlefield tensions - because they are constantly on the battlefield even in their tents at night.  Many veterans service groups believe that the post traumatic stress that these conditions cause is the reason why they are seeing homelessness and mental health problems among Afghan and Iraqi war veterans much earlier than in veterans of past wars. 

The following story of one Iraq war veteran says it all. 

June Moss drove from Kuwait to Iraq as an Army engineer in a truck convoy. When she returned to the United States, she lost her home, and drove her two young children from hotel to hotel across Northern California.  Prior to going to Iraq, Moss spent 12 years with the military and had purchased a house with a VA home loan, but she fell behind on payments.  "When I got back from Iraq, I knew something was wrong," she said. Diagnosed with PTSD, she found herself awake at night devising ways to keep her family safe. "I decided to move the refrigerator in front of the door to bunker us in," she said. "Then I would stay up all night baking cookies because I didn't want to go to sleep. Eventually, I stopped leaving the house altogether."   Moss lost her job and her income, and the bank foreclosed on her home.  She moved her two kids between temporary housing units and hotels until her PTSD was under control. Now, she has a temporary house for her family, and a full-time job at the VA. "It's because of my kids that I go to therapy and take my medication. If it wasn't for them, I don't know what would happen," she said. 

One veteran described his return as follows:   "It's like a culture shock returning home, but you are supposed to be used to it," he said. "Unless you are in war, nobody can understand what it's like. And they expect you to just function normally by yourself after that?"  Because no one really understands, many war on terrorism veterans have extreme difficulties getting along with family and friends, have fears and concerns that no one else can see, and find it almost impossible to hold down a steady job.

What Can You Do?  

Our organization, the Opis Foundation, is working with local veterans organizations and churches to provide support for returning Afghan and Iraq veterans.  Our efforts are multi-faceted.  We are trying to support deployed service personnel by providing needed services to their families in the form of housing assistance, vouchers for child care, and assistance with getting available benefits. 

For returning veterans, we are diligently working to see that the veterans get all of the benefits they are entitled to from the Veterans Administration by helping with cutting the red tape and being sure that the veteran knows what he or she is entitled to.  We are working with job placement and training organizations to insure that these veterans have paying jobs so that they can support themselves and their families and begin re-integration into civilian life. 

Finally, we are working with other veterans service agencies and mental health organizations in an effort to be sure that returning veterans have access to the help that they need for their physical and mental injuries.  We want to insure that every returning war on terrorism veteran has the help that they need to face the stresses they incurred through service to our country.  

Your donation will help us continue our work on these important programs for our returning veterans.  Won't you be as generous as you can?