Another Glimpse at San Francisco’s Homeless Veterans
San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. a good place to look at the plight of vets
All across the country this morning there will be Veterans Day parades, fluttering flags and heartfelt speeches. We will tell our servicemen and women how much we appreciate their sacrifice, remind everyone that service to our country is the hallmark of democracy and lament the passing of those who sacrificed their lives.
Someone will play taps.
And James Holmes, who served in the 82nd Airborne from 1975 to 1978, will be waking up in an armchair at a shelter for homeless people.
“I spent the last four nights in a chair, one night on the ground in Golden Gate Park and two nights in a (shelter) bed,” he said.
“I loved her,” Holmes said. “Still do. I was at work when her sister called and said there had been a car wreck. She said she was gone. Dead. I didn’t handle it that well.”
Many vets find that a jolt in their everyday life sends them spinning. Holmes can remember bits of the funeral and odd images from the next few weeks. He also remembers the drinking and the deep depression. He fell back on a familiar coping mechanism.
“I think what the Army did was teach me to survive, alone, with just a little pack on my back,” he said. “Over and over, I just put my stuff on my back and walked away.”
If you’d like to pick a spot to highlight the problem, San Francisco would be an excellent choice. Bobby Rosenthal, a coordinator for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, said there are an estimated 2,000 homeless veterans living in the city. And according to Wanda Heffernon of the local group Swords to Plowshares, that represents between a quarter and a third of the city’s total homeless population. Read On...
