ST. GEORGE — For some, living on the fringe of society in homelessness becomes a reality that is hard to overcome.
On the week of Christmas 1989, the body of a homeless United States military veteran was found behind a dumpster in an alleyway in Washington D.C. It was determined that he perished from exposure because of the harsh winter that year.
According to meteorological records, the average overnight temperature in our nation’s capital in the last month of 1989 was 19.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the vet’s pocket were slips of paper when pieced together wove a narrative that is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
“A veteran’s legacy is not in their death or the sacrifices made,” the unknown vet wrote. The full script can be read in the image below.
United States Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jim Hester, chair and lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, local Post 2628, said he found the body and the man’s dying thoughts while searching for veterans in need of a helping hand.
“After looking for his identification in his pockets I found scraps of paper with his words written on them,” Hester said. “For some reason, I put them in a cigar box until 2003 when I was in my garage and found the box.”
Piecing the scrapes together painted a picture of a life lived and what this homeless veteran held dear, Hester added.
After distributing thousands of copies of the compiled narrative, “Lest we Forget,” to nongovernmental organizations, schools and others, Hester said “if you think you are having a bad day, put this letter on your fridge and read it.
“Understand it came from a man who was sitting on the street with two or three little scrub pencils writing on cigarette packages,” he added. “Remember, he thought he was at home, but he was dying living on the streets like so many others.”
Although homelessness, especially among the U.S. veteran community, has been chronicled since colonial times, the number of men and women who have served their country now living on the streets has slightly increased.
The number of veterans experiencing homelessness – even before the coronavirus descended upon America – has risen, according to a 2020 report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
From 2010 to 2019, an estimated 74,000 homeless veterans without stable housing decreased by more than 50%. Yet one year later, the estimated number was 37,252 homeless former military in the U.S., up by a few hundred.
In 2020, for every 10,000 veterans in the United States, 21 were homeless at the start of the year.
According to the Housing Assistance Council, in 2019, there were nearly 121,000 veterans living in Utah with slightly more than 17,000 experiencing some type of housing difficulties, and though the numbers are harder to quantify for various reasons, nearly 120 vets across the state were considered technically homeless on any given night.
Since the end of the wars on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, advocates for veterans’ welfare worry the percentage will increase in the near future.
Though there is help for homeless vets serving in all theaters of war, the key is “to have the courage to ask for help and drop the pride,” which is often tied to military service, said mental healthcare professional Patrick Gonzales.
“I was one of the unlucky ones who were homeless and too proud,” said former U.S Marine Cpl. John Tipton. “I served in Iraq, served my country, and when I came home even my family refused to acknowledge my sacrifice.”
Tipton, who was told during his military career to “suck it up Marine,” did just that when he returned home. Estranged from his mother and father, a wall of silence soon enveloped the combat vet less than one year after returning to San Diego.
“I really didn’t care,” he said. “For me, it was about survival on my own terms, but I was home trying to get by. I still didn’t know who to trust. I guess I didn’t trust anyone, so I was on the street trying to fill my belly, find a warm and safe place to sleep, and make it through another day, but to be honest I really didn’t even care about that.”
Eventually, Tipton said that he dug himself out of homelessness and now enjoys a comfortable life in the suburbs of Los Angeles with a wife, a 3-year-old daughter and a newborn son.
“Looking back I guess there was a reason for everything that happened,” he said. “It was a crappy way to grow up and even harder learning how to be able to look myself in the mirror again, but here I am.”
Other reports indicate that while the number of homeless veterans ebbs and flows, in 2017, as the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan fell to fewer than 8,400, there was a spike of nearly 600 new homeless veterans. This was a “significant” increase for the first time in seven years.
Retired combat infantryman, a third-generation Marine, Cpl. Bruce Raftery – date of service 1966-69 – now public information officer for the local Chapter 961 Vietnam Veterans of America in St. George agrees that it’s harder getting the younger veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan to ask for help than it can be for the older vets.
“We tried to help,” Raftery said. “We put together a unit for the younger vets to come to meetings as a group. We had 12 guys attend once and never came back again. If you want help, it’s out there, but you’ve got to want it.”
For more information or to seek help contact The Utah Veteran or the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs.
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