Radio Workshop

Homeless Heroes (Transcript)

by Gretchen Wilson

AMB - Sound of cleaning up at Holy Apostle Church.

NARR - (Almost immediately over AMB). It's near the end of lunchtime in the bright meeting hall of Holy Apostle Church, on the far west side of midtown Manhattan. Volunteers have begun to break down the folding chairs and tables. But dozens of people, mostly middle-aged men, still sit under the church's vaulted ceilings. They have come for a free hot meal.

TAPE - My name is Luis Cruz and I'm a Vietnam vet.

NARR - Cruz was an airborne soldier in the Army from 1967 to 1970. In Vietnam, he parachuted out of airplanes into battle. While in combat, he was shot in the leg. Cruz says that it was in Vietnam that his life began to fall apart.

TAPE - CRUZ - I got an addiction over there in Vietnam. For the first time, I got exposed to heroin and I used it.

NARR - Cruz returned to his hometown of New York, but did not know of any resources to help him with his substance abuse. He has moved in and out of homeless shelters ever since.

TAPE - CRUZ - You know, it's taken me almost 25 years, maybe even more, to fight it, you know. Now I'm just starting to do the recovery thing on it.

NARR - Though Cruz now he lives in a small room that he rents by the week, he is just one of the many veterans in the United States who stand at the brink of homelessness.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or "VA," estimates that on any given night 250 thousand veterans sleep on the streets. Another half a million veterans become temporarily homeless every year.

TAPE - WEIDMAN - (21) - Proper transition from the military to help people plan out civilian careers and help get the right start is essential.

Rick Weidman is a spokesperson for Vietnam Veterans of America.

TAPE - WEIDMAN - (18) - Cause once you're out there, you're out there. You got no place for people to call you back for job interviews, you got no permanent mail address, / you've got no place to take a decent shower, you've got no place to keep your belongings from being ripped off, as they are in the shelters and on the street, I mean it's a tough sled to get back in that main stream again. (:22)

With a history of substance abuse and as a former combat soldier in Vietnam, Cruz represents one part of the homeless veteran population.

According to the VA, more than 70 percent of homeless veterans have alcohol or other substance abuse problems. 45 percent suffer from mental illness, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which can result from combat. And almost 30 years after the Vietnam War, there are still more homeless Vietnam veterans than the total number of U.S. military personnel killed during that conflict.

Today, many military personnel do go on to successful civilian careers. But veterans are still 1.3 times more likely to become homeless than those who never served in the military.

AMB - Holy Apostle background comes up (low as narration is read).

NARR - Gerald Harris is another veteran who eats regularly at Holy Apostle.

TAPE - HARRIS - You're coming back home to your family, but you serve your country, but your country forgets about you.

NARR - Harris served in the U.S. Army as a member of the air defense artillery from 1974 until 1982, but, unlike Cruz, he did not experience combat. In fact, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that a full two-thirds of all homeless veterans did not serve in war zones.

Instead, Harris says that when he got out of the service, he didn't have the training he needed to find a job.

TAPE - HARRIS - You're not really prepared to go out in the world and just go find a job. I work with missiles. I shot planes down for a living. It's kind of hard to get out and come out to the world and find a job shooting down airplanes. / They don't give you no school when you come out. How to fill out a resume, and stuff like that, you know?

NARR - Like Harris, many in the service come from poor backgrounds and are likely to return to working class communities after being discharged.

Donald Whitehead is the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. He says that a lack of well-paying jobs in these communities and a lack of career skills in the military makes it more difficult for poor veterans to succeed.

TAPE - WHITEHEAD - (04) If you are tank operator, for instance, the opportunity to do that in civilian life is pretty limited. / Most likely, when they leave the service, they're forced into the service-industry, or some low-paying, low-wage, kind of job.

NARR - This can be a major set back to those who joined the military as a stepping stone to a better career or to higher education. The U.S. Army advertises that it provides training for over 200 different positions - like healthcare specialist and construction engineer.

TAPE - BOONE - (65) - (:34) Young people often join to improve their life.

Linda Boone is executive director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

TAPE - BOONE - (65) - They're coming from a dysfunctional situation and they don't necessarily get their life skills or their situation improved by their military service.

NARR - Boone says that the lack of job training is a contrast with the way the military promotes itself as an opportunity for economic security.

But not everyone agrees.

Willie Alexander is a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington.

TAPE - ALEXANDER - (16) All service members are provided the transition assistance, so no one is just cut loose and 'good luck.'

NARR - Alexander says that training acquired in the military is transferable to most jobs. Though he admits that services for discharged personnel were minimal in the past, he says that now all military personnel have the opportunity to attend workshops to help them prepare for the transition in to civilian life.

AMB - "Just a penny for the homeless…" Back and forth between Jennings and Joseph Dublin.

NARR - It's Easter Sunday. Tony Jennings and Joseph Dublin wear matching red t-shirts and stand behind a folding table on the north side of Union Square. They're collecting money for an organization that provides services for the homeless.

AMB - "Lend somebody a helping hand…"

NARR - Jennings joined the Navy in 1984 and served two tours. Like Harris, he did not see combat. But when he got out in 1990, he struggled to get on his feet.

TAPE - JENNINGS - I got out and I really didn't have too much of a place to go and I didn't have too many people to turn to and you have this misconception when you join the service. That when you come back, everybody is going to love you for what you did. Pat him on the back, help him out. But it doesn't really work that way. (Change is dropped in jug) "God bless you."

NARR - Now Jennings lives in a group home with other veterans in Ronkokoma on Long Island. He collects money on the streets of New York City several times a week. In exchange, he gets a portion of the cash he collects and a free meal.

According to the VA, economic background and access to support systems are stronger indicators of the risk of homelessness than military service. Jennings himself grew up in Brooklyn.

TAPE - JENNINGS - As far as raised: Well, back and forth in different areas. As far as family, I didn't have any. So, nothing to jerk a tear over.

NARR - Jennings says that he lacked structure and discipline when he was released from the Navy. He went to Angola, Indiana, where he eventually found work in a dental lab. He got married.

TAPE - JENNINGS - Well, that didn't work out. I was having nightmares for awhile and I guess most of the blame falls on me. / I still have - If Vicky ever hears this - After about a year and a half, I still have the ring she gave me. I changed hands but I never took it off.

NARR - Jennings starts to tug at the gold ring on the fourth finger of his right hand.

TAPE - JENNINGS - Memories mean a lot. Just one other thing I went through in life. It's over now.

NARR - For many veterans, it is difficult to distinguish what factors contribute to their economic insecurity. But, like many who return from service, Jennings had trouble maintaining personal relationships. He had struggles with authority, which led to chronic unemployment.

AMB - Pitching on street.

NARR - Today, Jennings and Dublin have only collected a few dollars. They talk about changing tactics.

DOC Sound - Back and forth about how to pitch.

NARR - As the afternoon wears on, Jennings says that one of skills he did learn in the service was how to play the harmonica.

DOC SOUND - (Sound of warm up. Then song.)

NARR (Over song) - Lack of support networks, substance abuse and mental illness compound with poverty to leave many veterans on society's fringes. It's too early to tell what will become of the next generation of veterans who will soon return to a depressed economy.

DOC SOUND - Cut right into this one. (Star Spangled Banner…)

NARR (Over song) - For Columbia Radio News, I'm Gretchen Wilson.