The transition from a war zone to a home town

With 2007 nearly over, thoughts will turn to the new year and what's ahead. We all have our own personal hopes and dreams for 2008, as well as for the world around us.

The placing of Christmas wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery last week, thanks to the initiative of Maine's own Worcester Wreath, reminded us that while we honor the dead, we all need to keep in mind the plight of our living veterans. Of the homeless in America currently living on the streets and in shelters, over 25 percent are veterans.

Statistics show that these homeless veterans aren't just older men and women from the Vietnam era; they've been joined of late by younger ones - those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. This trend doesn't bode well for the future, because it means even more of these returning veterans are apt to turn to the street, unable to resume the life they left behind them when they went off to war. Apparently some of them initially try going back to their families, jobs and communities but find they just can't handle it. After a year or two, they end up on our streets and in our shelters.

We pride ourselves on our compassion, and these kind of statistics remind us that we are failing many of these returning veterans, not only men, but women as well, for whom life will never be the same. They left their homes and families to do their duty in the military, and can't readily forget what they've seen and been compelled to do. It's hard for us to imagine what it must be like to go from one world to another.

An estimated 44,000 to 64,000 veterans not able to make a smooth transition from home to war to home have now already spent more than a year on the streets or in shelters.

We all watched community members go off to Vietnam years ago, and then struggle to resume life in their home town after enduring the horrors of war. It wasn't easy. Now, we have another generation of veterans coming home, and for them, it's equally as hard.

Veterans' hospitals and affiliated organizations are being taxed to the limit, trying to provide much-needed services to these men and women; it's a formidable task.

May 2008 help our nation find ways to provide increased services to these deserving men and women who have served their country, and make their return home as smooth a transition as possible.