From Hero to Homeless

[Guest guest]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032605Y.shtml

 

From Hero to Homeless

By Byron Pitts

CBS News

 

Friday 25 March 2005

 

For 25-year-old Herold Noel, this winter, like the war, has not

been kind.

 

When " Iraqi Freedom " began, Private First Class Herold Noel was a

soldier in the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, pounding a path into

Baghdad.

 

" I fought for this country, " he said. " I shed blood for this

country. I watched friends die. "

 

And like so many, Herold Noel came home a hero, but he wound up

homeless.

 

He started living out of the back of his jeep when most of his

clothes and all of his military medals were stolen at a homeless shelter

 

" If ever I need to go on an interview, I got my tie, my shirt, so

I keep it as clean as I can.

 

" For a job interview? " Pitts asked.

 

" Yeah. "

 

When the war in Vietnam washed up the first wave of veterans in

need of shelter -- the Department of Veteran Affairs had no homeless

programs at all. While today, they offer services in every state.

Still, as many as 275,000 veterans will likely sleep out in the cold

tonight.

 

" Why weren't all the lessons of Vietnam learned this time? So

there wouldn't be any homeless veterans? " Pitts wanted to know.

 

" Most of the veterans that we're seeing have a mental health and a

substance abuse problem, " said Peter Dougherty of the Department of

Veterans Affairs. " Those problems are the underlying factors. "

 

Herold was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Unemployed, married with three kids, he couldn't get a job.

 

" The physical war is over. The mental war has just begun, " he said.

 

Pitts asked, " The system is better than it was during Vietnam? "

 

" The system is a whole lot better than it was before, " Dougherty said.

 

" But there's a 'but' there, sounds like, " Pitts noted.

 

" Well, the 'but' is we have to find them. "

 

Filmmaker Dan Lohaus found them on the street and in shelters

across the country. Herold Noel was one of them.

 

Lohaus and Pitts watched a film clip.

 

" This is a soldier at his breaking point? " asked Pitts.

 

" This is a solder at rock bottom, " the filmmaker said.

 

" I put applications in. I did all that. They lost my application

three f^ & @# times! " Noel said.

 

This time a city housing agency has given him the runaround yet again.

 

" What are you telling me man? I have three kids out there man! I

fought for my country man. My country shouldn't be doing this to me. "

 

" It's terrible to know that he's not the only one crying in his

car, " Lohaus said.

 

" This may sound like an insensitive question, but why should

anyone care? About Herold? About the others? " Pitts wanted to know.

 

" These are the folks who are protecting us and we are treating

them this way, who is going to sign up? Who is going to do it next time? "

 

Still, Herold Noel is one of the luckier ones. Just recently an

anonymous donor heard Herold's story and is paying his rent for a

year. Tonight, one Iraq War veteran is off the street. But somewhere

soon, another could well take his place.

 

-------

 

Jump to today's TO Features:

 

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is

distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior

interest in receiving the included information for research and

educational purposes. t r u t h o u t has no affiliation whatsoever

with the originator of this article nor is t r u t h o u t endorsed or

sponsored by the originator.)

 

" Go to Original " links are provided as a convenience to our readers

and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating

pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions

posted on TO may not match the versions our readers view when clicking

the " Go to Original " links.