Ethan Kreutzer joined the Army at the age of 17 and fought with the 19th Airborne in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. When he retuned home, he had no money, no education and no civilian job experience. He soon became homeless. He slept in an alley off Haight Street, behind two trash cans.
[The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates about 2,000 war on terrorism veterans have become homeless upon returning to the United States. It's still a small number, when compared to the staggering numbers of homeless Vietnam War-era veterans, but one that could balloon in the coming months. (SFGate.com)]The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates about 2,000 war on terrorism veterans have become homeless upon returning to the United States. It’s still a small number, when compared to the staggering numbers of homeless Vietnam War-era veterans, but one that could balloon in the coming months. (SFGate.com)
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.
Sean McKeen, a hardy, broad-shouldered 21-year-old with a wide smile, went to Iraq to clear land mines, and to get money for college. When he returned home, he became homeless in less than a week. He found himself sleeping in a cot in a crowded homeless shelter in San Francisco.
They are all part of a growing trend of homelessness among returning war on terrorism veterans.
More than 2,000 military personnel return home to California each month. Most have no specialized job experience, education or an easy familiarity with civilian life. And many have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making it difficult to get along with friends and family, and almost impossible to hold down a job.
“You feel like the whole world is against you when you get home,” said Kreutzer. “I was sleeping on the sidewalk, whereas I had been wearing a uniform less than a year before.” Soft- spoken and restless, Kreutzer was recruited in a 7-Eleven while still in high school. After five months in Afghanistan, he had a mental breakdown, diagnosed as PTSD. When he returned to the United States, he spent almost four years living on the streets.
Kreutzer said he’s met several veterans of the war in Iraq on the streets of San Francisco, or sleeping in Golden Gate Park. He also said he met several veterans of the war in Afghanistan, like himself, who were in similar situations.
Kreutzer now lives in a temporary housing facility for veterans on Treasure Island, run by the group Swords to Plowshares. He attends PTSD counseling with other war on terrorism veterans so that he can learn to maintain a job and house. “I was haunted by a lot of issues, a lot of things that I saw over there that were not good things. There are some times when I can wake up in a room and think I’m still there. I still remember what it tastes like, the air over there. I see all the rocks, I see the people,” said Kreutzer.
One of the symptoms of PTSD is isolation and withdrawal, according to Amy Fairweather, director of the Iraq Veterans project at Swords to Plowshares. “So that interferes with your ability to get a job. People sit in the dark by themselves,” she said.
Fairweather is seeing large numbers of homeless war on terrorism veterans come through her doors.
“Homelessness can happen very quickly, if they don’t get the help they need. Their mental health will get worse, they will become more depressed,” she said. “We are seeing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, who are homeless, coming in very quickly. After Vietnam, it generally took about five to 10 years to end up on the streets. We’re seeing people on the streets three months after they come home.”
Moss spent 12 years with the military and had purchased a house with a VA home loan, but she fell behind on payments.
Filed under: Afghanistan War, enivornment, Indigenous, Iran war, war on terrorism | Tagged: Afghanistan War, Iraq, Join The Homeless, Veterans | 1 Comment »
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