Serving Those Who Have Served

by Shannon Moriarty · 2008-11-11 08:00:00 UTC
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Veteran's Day: a time to honor the service and sacrifice of our brave service men and women. 

Today, thousands of veterans will march through the streets in Veteran's Day parades. And tonight, thousands more veterans will sleep on sidewalks. 

As we pause today to honor our vets, we must remember that service men and women account for 25% of homeless people in the United States. The dire needs of our country's veterans - from aging Vietnam-era men and women to young people returning from Iraq and Afghanistan - are present every day of the year.

Luckily, many people and organizations are serving those who have served our country. Meet David Sallee from Missouri and the Veterans Transition Center in California: a retired Marine and an organization doing their part to help honor our veterans year-round.

"Once a Marine, Always a Marine"

In Missouri, a former Marine is doing his part to serve his former service men and women who are now homeless and/or disabled. The Missourian tells his story:

Nearly four decades ago, David Sallee spent five months leading search-and-destroy missions on the border of Vietnam and Cambodia. The lives of his fellow Marines were in his hands as he led them through deadly territory. He was good at it.

Although his time in Vietnam ended in 1969, Sallee is still walking point, still looking out for his comrades. The 57-year-old backhoe driver and Vietnam veteran, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is trying to build Sallee Post-Service Sanctuary, a 5-acre trailer park outside Hallsville that would shelter veterans who are homeless or have disabilities in seven new three-bedroom mobile homes.

[Picture: David Sallee from The Missourian]

A Way Out of Long-Term Homelessness

The Veterans Transition Center in Monteray County, California helps veterans get off the streets and receive the mental and physical care they need. They offer veterans a holistic approach to ending homelessness, including housing, counseling, rehab, medical care, and job placement. In addition, the center offers housing for veterans and their families so they may stay together during the healing process.

Ironically, the center is housed in a former military base. 

An article in the Herald of Monteray County describes what a typical case for the Veterans Transition Center looks like:

A typical case... involves a veteran who suffers unknowingly from post-traumatic stress disorder, finds after discharge that he has anger management problems, loses one job after another, and turns to drugs and alcohol if substance abuse wasn't already a factor. By the time the veteran runs out of options, he has probably been out of uniform for 10 years.

Read more about the Veteran's Transition Center here.

This is just a small sampling of the thousands of people and organizations serving homeless veterans who have served our country.  

Perhaps Robert Jamieson said it best: these men and women are willing to take a bullet for our country. Our country should never desert them. 

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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