Sydney As I have grown up, some very tragic things have happened in this world. The one thing that always has taken an emotional toll on people is the terrorist attack on 9/11. Every year on that day, we remember the people that we lost and we replay all the horrible things that happened. This attack lead to several wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the men and women who fought for our country during these wars should always be remembered for the sacrifices they have made. Many veterans today do not have jobs, homes, or families because of their illnesses and inabilities to conform back into their normal lives. Although many Veteran Organizations think that they are doing more than enough for our soldiers, the US government needs to focus more on the soldier’s care after returning home because they are the ones who took care of America in our time of need. As all of the tours ended in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, surviving soldiers began to return home, well the United States, not what people would typically consider “home.” Rodenbush and Dillon state that, “Data collected during the annual Point-in-Time Count conducted in January 2014 shows there were 49,933 homeless veterans in America.” There are several reasons as to why this many veterans are homeless. First, because a large amount of soldiers are returning home with brain injuries, PTSD or TBI, they have a greater inability to find jobs; without any kind of job, the veterans have no choice but to live on the streets. Some families are also known for leaving their solider behind before his/her return home, resulting in another soldier without a home. The music video for the Five Finger Death Punch song “Wrong Side of Heaven” states that, “divorce rate among military couples have increased 42%” (Prospect). Being alone is not how a veteran should be after they have finished fighting for this country. These soldiers need a support system to help them restart their lives back here in the U.S. Crone and Brown declares that, “A top priority for homeless veterans is secure, safe, clean housing that offers a supportive environment free of drugs and alcohol” (NCVS). When veterans are homeless, they don’t have this environment that Crone and Brown are referring to, making it that much harder for these men and women to become healthy and stable. Although the number of homeless veterans is decreasing each year, there are still some out there who have risked their lives for this country, most of which who are without a job, and there needs to be drastic measures taken to get them in a good stable home Along with our troops being homeless, there are also a very high number of veterans that suffer from mental issues after being on the battlefield. The most common is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The United States Department of Veteran Affairs says that, “ Posttraumatic stress disorder can occur after you have been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something terrible and scary that you see, hear about, or that happens to you, like: combat exposure, child sexual or physical abuse, terrorist attack, sexual or physical assault, serious accidents, like a car wreck, or natural disasters, like a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, or earthquake” (“What”). This condition leads to flashback of past events where the flashback and actions are uncontrollable. There is no stopping what could happen to the people around the ill veteran (“What”). This illness is not something that should go unnoticed or be left for the veteran to decide his/her how to access their own care (Laura). This is when the US Government should step in and provide the help that is needed for these individuals immediately. Laura B. declares that, “One out of every three Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans suffers from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or a combination of the two due to combat trauma.” The amount of men and women that suffer from this disease is outrageous and it makes it even worse that the VA only gives soldiers advice on who to see about their problem, instead of taking care of it themselves. An article that was on the Huffington Post said that, “many vets say they’re reluctant to seek help because of how it may affect their reputations” (Goldberg, Prois). The VA needs to be very strict and forceful with these soldiers whether the soldiers like it or not. They have very deep and complex emotional problems that need to be cared for. This PTSD brain disease has also lead to a very high rate of suicide cases. Many soldiers are consumed with there thoughts and flashbacks from the war that they think they have no where to go but to kill themselves. An average rate of 5,000 veterans kills themselves each year (Prospect). Even if it is known that a veteran is going to commit suicide and he owns a gun, the DOD says that they still don’t have the right to take this service man’s weapon (McVeigh). This just continues to add on to why the United States government does not do everything they could to care for the soldiers. If you know someone who is going to kill himself/herself, don’t allow him/her to have a gun and get him/her help as soon as possible. It’s as simple as that. Because there is not an appropriate amount of help, the rate of 22 veterans killing themselves a day will continue to rise (McVeigh). Although I have provided several points that show how I think that the government is not doing enough for our service men after they return home, some people think that the United States Government is doing all that they can for these veterans. For example, there is a lifeline number that is provided for veterans who want to talk to people who have careers in helping veterans with their illnesses (Laura B.). Something else that makes people believe that the U.S is helping veterans, are the war veterans’ homes that houses all the homeless veterans when they don’t have anywhere to go, to keep them off the streets. These houses also allow the veterans to directly connect with the nurses there, and to have a stable environment. And lastly, a part of joining the military is that you get your college paid for. This allows for service men that went directly into the military after high school, to get an education after the time that they served.
All of these things are several examples as to why people truly believe that the United States government is taking care our military, but I disagree completely. First of all, although there are lifelines that are provided, it is the soldier’s decision to get help or not and most of the time many soldiers reject this offer. The government should take control of the situation with face-to-face conversations with each soldier and truly care for them before they are released to go home. Secondly, just because there are veterans’ homes provided, these homes fill up very quick, leaving way too many veterans on the streets, and these are considered permanent supportive houses, meaning that they house veterans who are ill. The amount of people who are in these support houses are realistically considered to be homeless. So, whether these veterans are in the permanent support houses or the streets, they are “homeless.” Lastly, even though the service men are entitled to money for education, according to Goldberg and Prois, the VA has taken a huge pay cut, decreasing the amount of money that is available for veterans’ education. Because of this problem, many non-profit organizations have to help with this money problem, as well as colleges, who have to drop the tuition payments of vets (Huffing Post). If America didn’t spend our money on the best weapons, and other unnecessary things, we wouldn’t have these pay cuts. This process is simply a snowball effect. As America gets involved in every war, forcing us to spend our money, then pay cuts are made, leaving veterans without an education, further making it harder to get jobs, and without a job and a steady flow of money, they could end up homeless. It’s war, all because of war.
Veteran care is always going to be a huge debate. Some people think that what the government is doing for them right now is enough, and then there are people, like me, who think that there can never be enough care for these service men. There’s so much that could be done for these soldiers, it’s just a matter of the government stepping up and realizing that a huge majority of them are seriously ill. These men and women have sacrificed their lives for this country; they don’t deserve to be killing themselves because the feel helpless, and they sure don’t deserve to be living on the streets because they have nowhere else to go.

Works Cited
B. Laura. “ The Problems Facing America’s Veterans.” Care2. N.p., 11 Jan 2013. Web. 17 Nov
2014.
Crone, Baylee, Randy Brown. “Background and Statistics.” National Coalition for Homeless
Veterans. N.p., N.d. Web. 17 Nov 2014.
Dillion, Victoria, Patrick Rodenbush. “HUD, VA, AND USICH Announce 33% Drop In Veteran
Homelessness Since 2010.” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. N.p.,
29 Aug 2014. Web. 17 Nov 2014.
Goldenburg, Eleanor, Jessica Prois. “5 Growing Problems Iraq, Afghanistan Wars Veterans Face
(And What's Being Done).” The Huffington Post. N.p., 9 Sept 2013. Web. 17 Nov 2014.
McVeigh, Karen. “US military veterans face inadequate care after returning from war – report.” theguardian. N.p., 26 Mar 2013. Web. 17 Nov 2014.
Prospect Park. “Wrong Side of Heaven.” YouTube. 19 Aug 2014. Web. 19 Nov 2014.
“What is PTSD.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. N.p., 17 Jan 2014. Web. 17 Nov 2014.