More evidence shows that U.S. soldiers are falling through the cracks when they get back home. Military veterans are also more likely than others to become homeless.
Four hundred vets who served in Afghanistan or Iraq are are now homeless, the New York Times, Associated Press and others reports.
Veterans account for more than 25% of the homeless in the U.S., even though they are less than 10% of the general population, according to a report released today by the non-profit group, the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The figures come from Veterans Affairs and Census Bureau databases.
To stem the tide, the Alliance to End Homelessness suggests making available 20,000 housing vouchers for vets (to help with living costs) plus 5,000 housing units over 5 years.
Post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries are two possible factors that contribute to homelessness.
Ten years after Congress banned sales of sexually explicit material on military bases, the Pentagon is under fire for continuing to sell adult fare, such as Penthouse and Playmates In Bed, that it doesn't consider explicit enough to pull from its stores.
A sampling of magazines and videos reviewed by the Defense Department's Resale Activities Board for sale on military bases:
APPROVED
Celebrity Skin
Penthouse
Playboy
College Girls
Playboy's Lingerie
Nude
BANNED
Videos:
Blonde and Beyond
Girls Night In
Import Skin
Sex Symbols
UNDER REVIEW
Curves
Playboy's Hot Shots 2007
Playboy's Vixens
This year, the board reviewed Penthouse and several Playboy publications and determined that "based solely on the totality of each magazine's content, they were not sexually explicit," Arsht wrote. However, the board did decide to bar the sale of several videos found by the anti-pornography groups at military stores, including Girls Night In and Wet.
67% of the 473 "titles" reviewed have been barred, the Pentagon says
TEXAS CITY, Texas: The mother of an Army sergeant who died in a Baghdad vehicle accident weeks after writing a New York Times opinion piece critical of the Pentagon said Wednesday she wants the Army to explain his death.
"I want to know all the details of how he died. I want to know the truth," said Olga Capetillo, whose 28-year-old son, Sgt. Omar Mora, died Monday. "I don't understand how so many people could die in that accident. How could it be so bad?"
Capetillo feared that the article, which ran Aug. 19 in the New York Times, could damage her son's military career or cause him other problems. She said that in the weeks since writing the piece with six other active duty U.S. soldiers, Mora had seemed increasingly depressed and withdrawn.
