A young veteran writes:
They used to tell me I was building a dream, so I followed the call. When there was peace we needed secure or guns to bear, I was there to answer the call.
They would tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead, and that I would be trained and have my future secured. Once I wore a uniform, and damn I looked great. Half a million boots went stomping through hell and I was the kid with a gun. They sent me into the jungle of life, where nations were at war. I had seen more than I can stand, yet they sent me back again.
I came back home, battered and bruised, with awful thoughts spinning in my head. My body ached and I am starting to feel old for my age. Things have changed in this nation I love.
With little funds and rents so high, I am having a hard time finding a place to lay my weary head. What skills did I learn? Jobs are so scare for a person with battle scars. The cost of medicine, clothes, and food all increased so now I’m trying to survive in my own home! Brother and Sister, can you spare a dollar?
Say, don’t you remember they called me to serve.
Don’t you remember, they call me a Hero?
Now they call me a Veteran, but benefits that were promised to me have disappeared or take too long to process and receive. Brother and Sister, can you spare a dollar?
Some of my buddies have given up, 22 a day they say. I’m I to be next. I don’t want to give up hope. I’m sad that the number of 22 a day is misleading. At least 67 of us try to end this misery. Hope is with me, but then I remember our nation’s call.
I actually would sign up again, but can’t due to the injuries I’ve received while on duty. So now what? Should I give up or fight another day in the civilian life? With where I have been, what I have done, and what I have seen, surely my end could be heaven or hell. Maybe I’ll just stay in my shell. Brother and Sister, can you spare a dollar?
Why should I be standing in line waiting just for bread? Brother and Sister, can you spare a dollar?
Retirement income at age 27 is only $800. I have a wife and child to house, feed, and cloth.
Random thoughts cross my mind.
How can I use my GI bill?
Work is calling me, the bread winner my mind is saying.
Veterans, young and old, should be treated with respect as they have been told, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
They answered that call. Now these people need our help, since the government is failing them.
These Veterans, these Americans, these HUMANS who’ve sacrificed so much for the country that has failed them, need our help to survive.
What can you do for them you might ask?
Brother and Sister, can you spare a dollar?
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Your gift of a dollar will assist us in helping our Veterans in need with permanent supportive housing.