They served for us when will we serve them

They kiss their family’s goodbye and head off to war with the promise of freedom and dignity when they get back. 

What do they get though? 

Veterans get treated very poorly in this time and age. Even whencompared to prisoners. 

Why is it that our murderers, rapists, and terrorists all get treated better than the men and women who fought for our freedom? 

According to stopsoldiersuicide.org more than 114,000 veterans have committed suicide. 

They commit suicide because when they get home, they can no longer adjust to the life they had.

Some will have nightmares about what happened, others will have survivor’s guilt. 

One in 10 turns to substance abuse. Most veterans that cannot get their hands on a substance or do not have a family to turn back to commit suicide.

Since 2001 the numbers of vetran suicides have been rising. 

In 2006, there was an 86% increase in suicide rates among 18 to 34-year-old male veterans. 

Whereas in prison out of 100,000 people only 344 die. Not all from suicide either, most from other inmates. 

Why do our prisoners get a bed, three meals a day, and time to hang outside or read, when our veterans are cold, hungry, and homeless? 

In January of 2020, out of 37,252 homeless veterans, only 22,048 found shelter, the other 15,204 were left unsheltered, cold and hungry. How’s that for payment for serving your country? 

Veterans now account for more than 9% of all homelessness in the U.S. This is either because they have a hard time transitioning when they get home or because they no longer have a family and turn to substances.

Among the homeless, veteran’s 59% of them are 51 or older. This is because they can no longer serve, and 40% say they have a hard time adjusting. 

Out of the ones who have a hard time adjusting studies show that those individuals are five times more likely to experience suicidal thoughts.

We have  thousands of veterans living on the streets  and yet we are spending over $39 billion on maintaining state prisons. 

Just out of tax dollars, it is estimated that over $80 billion goes toward the prison system each year. If you think about it that makes sense each prisoner costs $14,000 to $70,000 in a state prison. 

Most smaller states still say that means one single person for one year costs $25,000 to $30,000  annually.

 If we can spend $30,000  on a child molester, why can we not make sure that a person who fought for our freedom has a warm meal and a nice bed at night? Veterans risk their lives for us we should try to give a better life than homelessness and addiction.