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We Let Our Veterans Rot in the Streets. That’s the Truth.

  • ETS Solutions
  • Jul 13
  • 2 min read

We color ourselves red, white, and blue each year, salute the flag, and tell each other how much we "support the troops." But when the troops come home—broken, traumatized, depleted—broken, traumatized, depleted—we leave them on their own. We make them sleep in doorways, beg for change, and die in back alleys alone. That's not support. That's betrayal.


I work in an overnight, homeless drop-in center for folks with mental illness, and we have our share of vets. Although the numbers have come down slightly over the last few years (mostly since we have not been in a war since 2014), current estimates from HUD’s annual report estimate that approximately 40,000 veterans were homeless in the US on an average night in 2024.

Many of them suffer from untreated PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, addiction, or mental illness brought on or aggravated by their service. And rather than giving them complete, enduring care, we give them red tape. Forms. Waitlists. Shrug shoulders.


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We prepared them to survive war zones, but did not prepare them to survive coming back home. That is not just a policy failure—this is a moral failure.


Consider this: if someone risks their life for this country (and even if someone enlists but doesn't see combat, they still know they might), at the very least, we owe them a decent place to live. Not a cot in a homeless shelter. A house. A chance to rebuild their life. Real trauma-informed care. Respect that will last beyond parades.


Instead, they return to civilian life alone, stigmatized, and unsupported. We encourage them to be strong, to pick up the pieces, to get a job, as if housing and health care were something they must earn all over again.


So, if we're serious about supporting our troops, then show it. Don't simply stand during the anthem—stand for the homeless vet sleeping on the streets of your city tonight. Demand more. Because until we move beyond treating vets like throwaway equipment, we don't get to call ourselves a fully grateful nation.

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