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Originally Posted by xepherys
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/05/hom....ap/index.html
This makes me physically ill. George W. piece of shit Bush can sign away BILLIONS of dollars per month in another country, and can't sign more money to help those that fought in that country land on their feet back here in the Grand ol' United States? We spend more on our military than most countries have as a GNP, yet we can't provide social services for returning vets?
I just can't even begin to remotely understand how things in this country are SO very ass backwards these days. WTF is wrong with everyone?
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I just finished reading "Stolen Valor," a book in which the author meticulously documented the gross exaggerations, outright lies, and anecdotal "evidence" our media was only too anxious to make money from. For one thing, he demonstrated that the percentage of homelessness of Vietnam vets was the same, or less, than the percentage of non-vet males in general of the same age group.
This article seems long on anecdotes and short on verified data. I may be sensitized because this story so closely resembles the utterly inaccurate ones that are quoted in the book.
Here's a link to one website that quotes a very small portion of Stolen Valor:
http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies15.htm
And a very brief exerpt:
Quote:
--A corollary to the prison myth is the belief that substantial numbers of Vietnam veterans are unemployed. But a study by the Labor Department in 1994 showed that the unemployment rate for Vietnam veterans was 3.9 percent, significantly lower for male veterans of all eras (4.9 percent) and the overall unemployment rate for males (6 percent). 95Since the war, the stereotype of the homeless Vietnam vet has been buttressed by panhandlers with signs like "Vietnam Vet: Will Work for Food." But the few studies using military records show that the percentage of Vietnam veterans among the homeless is very small.
-- The same is true for the belief that Vietnam vets have high rates of suicide. More Vietnam veterans, it is often reported, have died by their own hand than did in combat. Not true. A 1988 study by the Centers for Disease Control found that the suicide rates of Vietnam veterans aren't any different than those of the general population.
Contrary to these perceptions, Vietnam veterans as a group have higher achievement levels than their peers who did not serve in the military. Those who remained in uniform reshaped the American military after the Southeast Asian disaster and mobilized to win the Gulf War with lightning speed. Disproportionate numbers of Vietnam veterans--such as Dallas' own Sam Johnson and Arizona's John McCain, both POWs--serve in Congress. Florida's former congressman (and POW) Pete Peterson is now U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam. Vice President Al Gore is a Vietnam veteran,
as is Gen. Colin Powell, former head of the joint chiefs of staff. Dallas City Manager John Ware is a Vietnam veteran, as is civic leader Roger Staubach, along with scores of our top corporate CEOs. The
stereotypes may persist, but meanwhile, real Vietnam vets are helping to run the country.
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My conclusion? I'm going to need a much better source, with better documentation of the assertions, than this CNN piece. There are too many nearly identical, but false, reports I've seen before.