Homeless Canadian War Veterans

[Mangosteen]

I thought there was a good pension plan for our war vets?

What went wrong? So disappointed to hear.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ex-om...vets-1.2731088

[Grizzly Adams]

Come on now, we've always honored our vets when we needed them, but not so after. Very sad history there if you look into it. Government even spied on war widows to ensure they weren't living in sin, cause to do so would have cut off their benefits, re-marriage was a guarantee of that.

Grizz

[elkdump]

My uncle, survived a RCAF plane crash in Alberta in 1941,He was flight training new pilots for the RAF, made it out alive , the other airman didn't, in crash received broken back , surgery with bones removed from his scull , stainless steel plate implanted, lived until 1970,

Never reviewed SFA from the Canadian Government , lost his family, his business interests he owned before VOLUNTEERING , lived as a recluse and invalid until he died alone and destitute.

F k the politicians of this country, shame on them, may they rot

[hoehne]

Originally Posted by elkdump

My uncle, survived a RCAF plane crash in Alberta in 1941,He was flight training new pilots for the RAF, made it out alive , the other airman didn't, in crash received broken back , surgery with bones removed from his scull , stainless steel plate implanted, lived until 1970,

Never reviewed SFA from the Canadian Government , lost his family, his business interests he owned before VOLUNTEERING , lived as a recluse and invalid until he died alone and destitute.

F k the politicians of this country, shame on them, may they rot

Right on, and the Veterans from Afghanistan , Bosnia, et, al are still being treated substandard compared to what the refugees to this country get-SAD (Son of Veteran)

[FishingMOM]

We need proper mental health care for vets, police, fire, ems
PTSD
Post traumatic stress disorder is real with all of these groups but care is as real as the unicorn.
But we want to give this support to our new friends.

[airbornedeerhunter]

What a crock! First off the term veteran is getting thrown around way too loosely these days. The overwhelming majority of these guys served a few years, got out, fell on hard times/went down the wrong path and wound up on the street. Most never deployed anywhere. Anyone with 20 or more years of service has a very nice pension and the chances of someone winding up on the streets after having served that long are slim. Many more are posers, a guy in Ottawa last year was panhandling with a veteran sign and claimed he had served for 30 years and the army kicked him out with no pension- complete BS, he got busted cold.

I can't see how this is the fault of anyone. The government does not track people after they leave the military no more than they track a career plumber or bus driver once they quit/retire. The media party is acting as if these guys were thrown into the gutter by the government and it's somehow the governments fault. It's a shame yes, but some people choose that life!

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

We need proper mental health care for vets, police, fire, ems
PTSD
Post traumatic stress disorder is real with all of these groups but care is as real as the unicorn.
But we want to give this support to our new friends.

The issue us, our politicians baffle us with bullshat of how they are solving the problems of the World with OUR money,

All the while there are a million issues to be dealt with RIGHT HERE AT HOME ,

the bullshat just keeps pilling up,

And the innocent keep being forgotten

[elkdump]

Originally Posted by airbornedeerhunter

What a crock! First off the term veteran is getting thrown around way too loosely these days. The overwhelming majority of these guys served a few years, got out, fell on hard times/went down the wrong path and wound up on the street. Most never deployed anywhere. Anyone with 20 or more years of service has a very nice pension and the chances of someone winding up on the streets after having served that long are slim. Many more are posers, a guy in Ottawa last year was panhandling with a veteran sign and claimed he had served for 30 years and the army kicked him out with no pension- complete BS, he got busted cold.

I can't see how this is the fault of anyone. The government does not track people after they leave the military no more than they track a career plumber or bus driver once they quit/retire. The media party is acting as if these guys were thrown into the gutter by the government and it's somehow the governments fault. It's a shame yes, but some people choose that life!

Persons with mental illness issues are whipped when it comes to dealing with lazy uncooperative SOB bureaucrats ,, most homeless are fighting mental illness issues

[NewAlbertan]

A decade of cuts and disregard for veterans from the conservatives is being addressed.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/o...kers-1.3390858

January 6, 2016
Carl Gannon
Carl Gannon is president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees. (CBC)
5.5k shares
The hundreds of Veterans Affairs Canada workers cut under the previous Conservative government are in the process of being replaced.

Case managers, client service agents and disability benefits officers are among the positions currently being filled according to Carl Gannon, the national president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees.

At least 2,250 veterans are homeless, analysis shows
"We've seen cuts of close to a 1,000, with a vast majority of those front-line staff, so we need to beef up the front line again," said Gannon. "Because the reality is, where the department is right now, we're not in a position to uphold that mandate.

In his mandate letter to Veterans' Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a priority will be to "re-open the nine Veterans Affairs service offices recently closed, hire more service delivery staff, and fully implement all of the Auditor General's recommendations on enhancing mental health service delivery to veterans."

In a statement sent to CBC Tuesday, the department wrote, "The Government of Canada is committed to hiring as many new staff as needed to ensure veterans and their families can access the benefits and services they need when and where they need them."

Gannon said at this stage, between 80 to 100 workers have already been hired and are in the process of being trained.

Hire veterans: advocacy group

Gannon said Veterans Affairs Canada has been able to move ahead with hiring quickly because the previous Conservative government committed to hiring 300 workers just before the election campaign got underway.

'We're pushing hard, being the union and representing front-line staff.'
- Union leader Carl Gannon
But Gannon said the Liberals have promised to hire hundreds more workers to make up for the years of cuts to the department, including the reopening of those Veterans Affairs offices.

"Hopefully by June we'll see those offices actually opened. We're pushing hard, being the union and representing front- line staff," said Gannon. "The department has started looking at the locations and all of those things."

Michael Blais, a veteran who heads a veterans advocacy group, said he hopes that Canadian Forces veterans themselves are hired into some of the vacant positions.

"It was difficult under the last administration for veterans to gain federal employment due to the reality of mass civil servant cutbacks," Blais told CBC News in an email. "As we enter the 'sunny ways,' I am hopeful that many qualified veterans will be able to find gainful employment at the federal level."

[Hat in the Cat]

Originally Posted by NewAlbertan

A decade of cuts and disregard for veterans from the conservatives is being addressed.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/o...kers-1.3390858

January 6, 2016
Carl Gannon
Carl Gannon is president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees. (CBC)
5.5k shares
The hundreds of Veterans Affairs Canada workers cut under the previous Conservative government are in the process of being replaced.

Case managers, client service agents and disability benefits officers are among the positions currently being filled according to Carl Gannon, the national president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees.

At least 2,250 veterans are homeless, analysis shows
"We've seen cuts of close to a 1,000, with a vast majority of those front-line staff, so we need to beef up the front line again," said Gannon. "Because the reality is, where the department is right now, we're not in a position to uphold that mandate.

In his mandate letter to Veterans' Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a priority will be to "re-open the nine Veterans Affairs service offices recently closed, hire more service delivery staff, and fully implement all of the Auditor General's recommendations on enhancing mental health service delivery to veterans."

In a statement sent to CBC Tuesday, the department wrote, "The Government of Canada is committed to hiring as many new staff as needed to ensure veterans and their families can access the benefits and services they need when and where they need them."

Gannon said at this stage, between 80 to 100 workers have already been hired and are in the process of being trained.

Hire veterans: advocacy group

Gannon said Veterans Affairs Canada has been able to move ahead with hiring quickly because the previous Conservative government committed to hiring 300 workers just before the election campaign got underway.

'We're pushing hard, being the union and representing front-line staff.'
- Union leader Carl Gannon
But Gannon said the Liberals have promised to hire hundreds more workers to make up for the years of cuts to the department, including the reopening of those Veterans Affairs offices.

"Hopefully by June we'll see those offices actually opened. We're pushing hard, being the union and representing front- line staff," said Gannon. "The department has started looking at the locations and all of those things."

Michael Blais, a veteran who heads a veterans advocacy group, said he hopes that Canadian Forces veterans themselves are hired into some of the vacant positions.

"It was difficult under the last administration for veterans to gain federal employment due to the reality of mass civil servant cutbacks," Blais told CBC News in an email. "As we enter the 'sunny ways,' I am hopeful that many qualified veterans will be able to find gainful employment at the federal level."

The bureaucracy and not the funding is the problem. I have dealt with VAC under both charters and while the pay out get out system needs work, everything else has improved under the conservatives. I am happy they closed useless offices down in order to keep that money for useful things in the department.

It is the insurance company mentality at the top that needs to be purged.

I am also leaning with ABDH that a 3 year stint and dishonorable discharge does not make you a vet on the street. There are some with PTSD that left civilization to cope I'm sure but for the most part it is life decisions after the army that lead to the streets.

[histyle]

Originally Posted by NewAlbertan

A decade of cuts and disregard for veterans from the conservatives is being addressed.

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/o...kers-1.3390858

January 6, 2016
Carl Gannon
Carl Gannon is president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees. (CBC)
5.5k shares
The hundreds of Veterans Affairs Canada workers cut under the previous Conservative government are in the process of being replaced.

Case managers, client service agents and disability benefits officers are among the positions currently being filled according to Carl Gannon, the national president of the Union of Veterans Affairs Employees.

At least 2,250 veterans are homeless, analysis shows
"We've seen cuts of close to a 1,000, with a vast majority of those front-line staff, so we need to beef up the front line again," said Gannon. "Because the reality is, where the department is right now, we're not in a position to uphold that mandate.

In his mandate letter to Veterans' Affairs Minister Kent Hehr, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a priority will be to "re-open the nine Veterans Affairs service offices recently closed, hire more service delivery staff, and fully implement all of the Auditor General's recommendations on enhancing mental health service delivery to veterans."

In a statement sent to CBC Tuesday, the department wrote, "The Government of Canada is committed to hiring as many new staff as needed to ensure veterans and their families can access the benefits and services they need when and where they need them."

Gannon said at this stage, between 80 to 100 workers have already been hired and are in the process of being trained.

Hire veterans: advocacy group

Gannon said Veterans Affairs Canada has been able to move ahead with hiring quickly because the previous Conservative government committed to hiring 300 workers just before the election campaign got underway.

'We're pushing hard, being the union and representing front-line staff.'
- Union leader Carl Gannon
But Gannon said the Liberals have promised to hire hundreds more workers to make up for the years of cuts to the department, including the reopening of those Veterans Affairs offices.

"Hopefully by June we'll see those offices actually opened. We're pushing hard, being the union and representing front- line staff," said Gannon. "The department has started looking at the locations and all of those things."

Michael Blais, a veteran who heads a veterans advocacy group, said he hopes that Canadian Forces veterans themselves are hired into some of the vacant positions.

"It was difficult under the last administration for veterans to gain federal employment due to the reality of mass civil servant cutbacks," Blais told CBC News in an email. "As we enter the 'sunny ways,' I am hopeful that many qualified veterans will be able to find gainful employment at the federal level."

So the problem is that there's not enough civil servants to ensure veterans & their families can access the benefits, and services they need? So sayeth the president of the union!! No mention as to increased benefits or services for veterans, just throw more taxpayer dollars at the bureaucracy and things will be better. Trust us.
I'd be willing to bet a fair sum of money that when the smoke settles, less than 25% of the new 'hires' will be formerly out of work veterans.
This article does more to show bias in media than it does to support any argument vis a vis the state of affairs in the Veteran's Administration under any government.

[243 wild cat]

The Veterans from Afghanistan , Bosnia, et, al are still being treated like Crap! compared to what the refugees to this country get
At least 2,250 veterans are homeless, analysis shows. And what do the government do help 2,250 REFUGEES! Makes me Sick

[JimPS]

Originally Posted by elkdump

My uncle, survived a RCAF plane crash in Alberta in 1941,He was flight training new pilots for the RAF, made it out alive , the other airman didn't, in crash received broken back , surgery with bones removed from his scull , stainless steel plate implanted, lived until 1970,

Never reviewed SFA from the Canadian Government , lost his family, his business interests he owned before VOLUNTEERING , lived as a recluse and invalid until he died alone and destitute.

F k the politicians of this country, shame on them, may they rot

Many men suffered alone like your uncle did from injuries after World War 2.

Many were too proud to seek help - it was a generational thing.

In the eyes of many of these men, there was always guys that were worse off that needed and deserved the help that was available more than they did.

And then there was the stigma of having Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF) - today PTSD is recognized - but for these guys it was called "shell shock" and it carried a stigma.

My dad was a WW2 vet and he helped many guys out that he worked with. Most had booze and domestic issues which affected their employment.

The Legion was the source he used for getting help for some of these guys - not the government and Department of Veterans Affairs.

[Freedom55]

2250 , the number of homeless veterans being touted in the latest news cycle, represents 0.36% of the roughly 600,000 former members of the armed forces.

That is a small number of men who, after a few months of military service, have given up and chose a high risk life-style compared to those who went on to become productive citizens.

Not that we shouldn't care about those 2 thousand people. But as a headline on the 24 hour news channels, it smacks of sensationalism and little more.

Free

[Heyupduck]

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

We need proper mental health care for vets, police, fire, ems
PTSD
Post traumatic stress disorder is real with all of these groups but care is as real as the unicorn.
But we want to give this support to our new friends.

- we need proper mental health care for everyone. The Conservatives left the mental health care system in a mess, and the NDP are not doing any better.

[HunterDave]

As a Veteran of 27 years there's a couple of things that I take exception to:

A Veteran is a Veteran despite how long that he served. Who's to say that someone like me who served 27 years is more of a Veteran than the fella who served 3 years, found himself in the s*** in The Ghan and was forced to retire because it messed him up?

Many homeless Veterans chose to live on the streets, more or less dropping out of society, because of mental injuries that they sustained due to their service.

News articles containing statements from Union heads and/or Politicians should be taken with a grain of salt because both have their own agendas. Unions could care less about Veterans and that is one reason that they fight against priority hiring of Veterans in the public service sector. Unions care about union jobs and that's it! Likewise, politicians care about their own politics. Veterans are merely tools to be used for drawing public sympathy in order to pursue their personal agendas.

Finally, wrt to the closing of the VAC offices......Rather than jumping on the "poor us" bandwagon without thinking, I researched the numbers of Veterans effected by the closures and how it could potentially effect them. I think that many people would be surprised that there were only about 15 active case files in the Prince Albert VAC office that closed and only 23 active case files in the Windsor office. I was unable to get numbers for any of the other offices despite contacting PSAC and the Minister of Veterans Affairs. State secret or what? Many of the closed VAC offices were co-located in the same building as the department now responsible for Veterans Affairs and the change involved going to a different office down the hall or on a different floor. Once again Veterans were used for political purposes with the closure of the VAC offices issue, this time by a very small but vocal group of left wing Veterans on the east coast.

[Alberta_yote]

I only did 4 years seen the scrap in the ghan not homeless and hopefully I never will be but I suffer and scrape by with what I have. To bring up the refugees and veterans in the same post is ridiculous. Wake up and smell the coffee no one said boo about the homeless vets until the govt started bringing refugees in. Stop following mainstream and sounding like you give a scrap. You didn't care before and all of a sudden you are all up in arms about it, too little too late if you ask me!

[ex811]

20yr Veteran, have had a Veterans Affairs Pension since the day I retired.

Can't say anything negative about my treatment by VAC, always someone at the other end of the line when I call/or Email regarding concerns or questions.
In my experience the Conservatives always tended to put the Veterans first, it's the Liberals who have tended to put the bureaucracy of VAC ahead of the Vets.

[fordtruckin]

Originally Posted by Freedom55

2250 , the number of homeless veterans being touted in the latest news cycle, represents 0.36% of the roughly 600,000 former members of the armed forces.
That is a small number of men who, after a few months of military service, have given up and chose a high risk life-style compared to those who went on to become productive citizens.
Not that we shouldn't care about those 2 thousand people. But as a headline on the 24 hour news channels, it smacks of sensationalism and little more.

Free

All I have to say to you is, 1. Who said these homeless Vets were only in the military for a few months? and 2. (Assuming you are referring to the military as a high risk life style) then I reply, screw all the oil field guys who thought the boom would last for ever and took on life styles that they could not sustain in the event the bubble burst. Who now complain almost every day on AO because they got laid off can't find work to give them the ability to keep spending spending spending. They chose that life style (oil field work and getting financed to the neck) and can accept the consequences of their foolishness now that they no longer can make ends meet. So as you concluded with, not that we shouldn't care about those who have lost their jobs, but as a headline on the 24 hour news channels....

Originally Posted by JimPS

Many men suffered alone like your uncle did from injuries after World War 2.

Many were too proud to seek help - it was a generational thing.

In the eyes of many of these men, there was always guys that were worse off that needed and deserved the help that was available more than they did.

And then there was the stigma of having Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF) - today PTSD is recognized - but for these guys it was called "shell shock" and it carried a stigma.

My dad was a WW2 vet and he helped many guys out that he worked with. Most had booze and domestic issues which affected their employment.

The Legion was the source he used for getting help for some of these guys - not the government and Department of Veterans Affairs.

I wouldn't necessarily say it is a generational thing. I have several friends I was in Iraq with that don't get help for issues that developed from our time overseas. Reminds me of a friend I had who got knocked the crap out from an IED blast and sustained some non life threatening injuries. Woke up in BIAP next to a guy who lost an appendage. They both got a Purple heart even though he felt the injury he sustained was no where near the equivalent to losing a body part.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by JimPS

Many men suffered alone like your uncle did from injuries after World War 2.

Many were too proud to seek help - it was a generational thing.

In the eyes of many of these men, there was always guys that were worse off that needed and deserved the help that was available more than they did.

And then there was the stigma of having Lack of Moral Fibre (LMF) - today PTSD is recognized - but for these guys it was called "shell shock" and it carried a stigma.

My dad was a WW2 vet and he helped many guys out that he worked with. Most had booze and domestic issues which affected their employment.

The Legion was the source he used for getting help for some of these guys - not the government and Department of Veterans Affairs.

I think that what you described is very accurate but I disagree that it was a generational thing. Much of what you have stated holds true to this very day with many modern day Veterans. Pride and not wanting to appear weak has a lot to do with not asking for help and many troubled Veterans would take their own life before asking for help. Peer to peer support is extremely important now a days to try to end the stigma that someone is weak because they've dealt with things on their own for so long that they simply can't anymore and drop out. Survivors guilt may also Playba part with individuals thinking that there are many people much worse off. All that to say that regardless of how many programs are in place and available to homeless Veterans, the greater requirement IMO is to convince them to seek help and rejoin society.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I think that what you described is very accurate but I disagree that it was a generational thing. Much of what you have stated holds true to this very day with many modern day Veterans. Pride and not wanting to appear weak has a lot to do with not asking for help and many troubled Veterans would take their own life before asking for help. Peer to peer support is extremely important now a days to try to end the stigma that someone is weak because they've dealt with things on their own for so long that they simply can't anymore and drop out. Survivors guilt may also Playba part with individuals thinking that there are many people much worse off. All that to say that regardless of how many programs are in place and available to homeless Veterans, the greater requirement IMO is to convince them to seek help and rejoin society.

Spot on HD,
Peer to peer, legions etc the key it to reach out, a vet is a vet, if you need to talk reach out, no hero's on the Homefront just people who will be there for them and listen.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

I wouldn't necessarily say it is a generational thing. I have several friends I was in Iraq with that don't get help for issues that developed from our time overseas. Reminds me of a friend I had who got knocked the crap out from an IED blast and sustained some non life threatening injuries. Woke up in BIAP next to a guy who lost an appendage. They both got a Purple heart even though he felt the injury he sustained was no where near the equivalent to losing a body part.

Agreed. Soldiers are a unique breed though and I wouldn't expect everyone to understand. In those regards, I doubt that there's a big difference between the way most Soldiers thought in WWI to the way most modern day Soldiers think.

[Hat in the Cat]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

I wouldn't necessarily say it is a generational thing. I have several friends I was in Iraq with that don't get help for issues that developed from our time overseas. Reminds me of a friend I had who got knocked the crap out from an IED blast and sustained some non life threatening injuries. Woke up in BIAP next to a guy who lost an appendage. They both got a Purple heart even though he felt the injury he sustained was no where near the equivalent to losing a body part.

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Agreed. Soldiers are a unique breed though and I wouldn't expect everyone to understand. In those regards, I doubt that there's a big difference between the way most Soldiers thought in WWI to the way most modern day Soldiers think.

When they start to think they need help they look up at someone who is (at least in their mind) suffering more, and say well he isn't getting help, I guess I don't really need it yet. Or in other situations the battle buddy syndrome comes out where they know others are worse off so they don't want to risk taking 'the last spot' for help that someone else who really needed it might have missed.

A strange breed indeed and unlike the 'stigma' they are trying to break down in civie land for mental health, I think what the army needs is someone to crack through this developed way of thinking in soldiers.

Ask for a volunteer for a dirty job and they all want to be first, tell 8 men that only two can make it in for a shower and nobody puts there hand up. Its all built around team before self.

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by airbornedeerhunter

What a crock! First off the term veteran is getting thrown around way too loosely these days. The overwhelming majority of these guys served a few years, got out, fell on hard times/went down the wrong path and wound up on the street. Most never deployed anywhere. Anyone with 20 or more years of service has a very nice pension and the chances of someone winding up on the streets after having served that long are slim. Many more are posers, a guy in Ottawa last year was panhandling with a veteran sign and claimed he had served for 30 years and the army kicked him out with no pension- complete BS, he got busted cold.

I can't see how this is the fault of anyone. The government does not track people after they leave the military no more than they track a career plumber or bus driver once they quit/retire. The media party is acting as if these guys were thrown into the gutter by the government and it's somehow the governments fault. It's a shame yes, but some people choose that life!

Well worth repeating ^

Mac

[JimPS]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I think that what you described is very accurate but I disagree that it was a generational thing. Much of what you have stated holds true to this very day with many modern day Veterans. Pride and not wanting to appear weak has a lot to do with not asking for help and many troubled Veterans would take their own life before asking for help. Peer to peer support is extremely important now a days to try to end the stigma that someone is weak because they've dealt with things on their own for so long that they simply can't anymore and drop out. Survivors guilt may also Playba part with individuals thinking that there are many people much worse off. All that to say that regardless of how many programs are in place and available to homeless Veterans, the greater requirement IMO is to convince them to seek help and rejoin society.

With respect to the "generational thing", I should have clarified it a bit.

The vast majority of the people who served in Canada's Army, Navy and Air Force during World War II, were volunteers.

Our armed services didn't have many "professionals" or "specialists" like we have today. The career military men, were primarily veterans of World War I - mostly "old men" who were in their forties by the time the war started.

The generation of young men and women that volunteered, grew up during the depression. There was not a great chance of getting a job, so when the war broke out, this huge generation of underemployed volunteered for service.

The government had little money to pay this generation a living wage for serving Canada and even less money to provide mental health care when they returned home.

Times were tight. It was a different kind of generation thing these men and women experienced compared to what recent veterans have lived through.

When my dad was discharged from the Air Force, one of the most valuable things he had was his uniform, which he got tailored into a business suit so he could get a job.

And there was no pension for serving 5 or 6 years during the war - unless you wanted to make it a career - and most didn't.

[Freedom55]

Originally Posted by fordtruckin

All I have to say to you is, 1. Who said these homeless Vets were only in the military for a few months? and 2. (Assuming you are referring to the military as a high risk life style) then I reply, screw all the oil field guys who thought the boom would last for ever and took on life styles that they could not sustain in the event the bubble burst. Who now complain almost every day on AO because they got laid off can't find work to give them the ability to keep spending spending spending. They chose that life style (oil field work and getting financed to the neck) and can accept the consequences of their foolishness now that they no longer can make ends meet. So as you concluded with, not that we shouldn't care about those who have lost their jobs, but as a headline on the 24 hour news channels....




I wouldn't necessarily say it is a generational thing. I have several friends I was in Iraq with that don't get help for issues that developed from our time overseas. Reminds me of a friend I had who got knocked the crap out from an IED blast and sustained some non life threatening injuries. Woke up in BIAP next to a guy who lost an appendage. They both got a Purple heart even though he felt the injury he sustained was no where near the equivalent to losing a body part.

By high risk life style I am referring to a life on the street, living off the kindness of strangers and their hand-outs. I am not thinking of policemen and the risks posed by that vocation. Or the dangers to life and limb from a JOB that pays.

Further, I believe the story is about Canadian soldiers and our way of looking after our citizens. Not to say that U.S. service men don't end up on the street; I am sure they do. But a career soldier need never be homeless; addicted maybe, but not sleeping under a newspaper.

Free