200,000 Homeless Vets in U.S.

Tweet "Long before the current war, the Homeless Veterans Program had guided men and women back into daily life after service in Vietnam, Korea and the Second World War. But Dougherty makes no secret of a truth few Americans know: about one-quarter of all homeless adults in America have served in the military - most of them minority veterans."

"There are now about 200,000 homeless vets in the United States, government figures show."

And:

"Across the country, 350 non-profit service organizations are working with Veterans Affairs to provide a network that breaks the veterans' fall."

"But they still land on a hard bottom line: almost one-half of the 2.7 million disabled U.S. veterans receive $337 or less a month in benefits, the VA's Veterans Benefits Administration said."

"Fewer than one-10th of them are rated 100-per-cent disabled, meaning they receive $2,393 a month, tax free."

"And only those who receive that 100-per-cent benefit rating can survive in New York," said J.B. White, a 36-year-old former marine who served with a National Guard unit in Iraq.

"His entire colon was removed after he was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis, which civilian medical experts believe started in Iraq under the stress of war."