History

     Homeless Vets refers to war Veterans that are homeless or without constant work or living conditions. In the period from 1964 to 1989, most of the Veterans on the street were and still are Vietnam War Veterans. This is not circumstance, there is a reason why out of all the wars, Vietnam had the most homeless. Because of the extreme violence and direct combat experienced in Vietnam, along with it being a very long war, a majority of the soldiers that came back to America had some form of mental health problems. This is not uncommon in veterans from any war, but the horror of the mostly guerrilla war in Vietnam left more soldiers scarred with PTSD, acute stress, depression, and anxiety.^[1] Vietnam Veteran Andy describes the experience of these post-war side affects as, "dealing with the demons." ^[2]The soldiers were also mistreated by Americans when they returned, being called rude words like "baby killer" and never receiving a welcome home as veterans of other wars did. They were yelled and screamed at mostly by an anti-war group called hippies. This greatly increased their likelihood of being homeless. Many veterans tried to continue normal lives; like veteran Andy  who became a police officer and had hopes of being a preacher,^[3] but being shunned by society usually made veterans turn to drugs or alcohol for an escape. Many lost relations with family and friends and didn't receive much if any compensation from government.

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          Significance                                                                

     Homeless veterans in the mid to late 1900's were significant to U.S. history because they were the first veterans to receive such negative impact from the war. Mental health disorders, substance abuse, and homelessness greatly increased in numbers compared to previous wars. Vietnam was also the first televised war, and it may be because of all the violence and terror witnessed on TV that people, mainly the youth, protested and responded so defiantly to this war. Of course when soldiers returned  home many more homeless people were on the streets and that affected our country greatly. No doubt after the Vietnam war people in America were more cautious and suspicious about following wars and the how the government portrayed them. Many soldiers felt they were brainwashed by the U.S. government that this was a war on communism when drafted, but came to believe that it was mostly about narcotics like opium, gold and oil while in Vietnam. This shared thought was not lost in our country's history. Lastly, the Vietnam Veterans were a contributing factor to a time period that changed America forever. Without their sad and unfortunate fates, the world would be diffrent today, perhaps less aware of what the government will say and do to get us to enlist in war. To our Veterans, we can only say, thank you.