Today's interview is a story we hear about all too often. The veteran who has come back from service and cannot integrate himself back into 'normal' life. This interview was difficult for me because my son is in the Air Force. My father was in the Air Force. I'm simply appalled that we as a nation cannot take care of the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. Here is "Frank", age 63 in his own words:
*** Tell me about your childhood.
I was born about a mile away. Basically I grew up here. Went to school here. Through high school. I graduated from there and then went into the service. Did 3 years in Vietnam.
*** What about your parents, siblings?
Well, they are both gone now. There was 9 of us. I was the oldest. I went into the service and all this and they never did. They just stayed home. I was kind of the black sheep because I gotta go into the Army and played football and do this and do that. It was a pretty normal childhood. When I come out of the service I got married. Wife, 2 kids and then something happened. My wife wanted a divorce and before you know it I'm by myself. I had a job but then I lost that. Then it seems like everything went down hill. That's where I ended up, still by myself. I mean things happen. Now, I'm a veteran so I just, I don't know. It seems like things could be better for me according to the VA but things don't always...they say one thing but then they do another and then you gotta go through all the red tape....and this and that and you know by the time you expect it to happen it doesn't happen. So just like financially I get a little compensation from Vietnam and Social Security but I'm for all of this 100% disability thing from the VA. I don't know what's going on with that.
*** Tell me more about your parents.
Well my father, my step-father. Religious, no. He could care less about church, whether I went to church. Now my mom, she did go to church. And she tried to stress church on us and make us go every now and then but the old man he didn't say nothing about it. We go there to collect Easter eggs on Easter.
*** What about your biological father?
Well, they never married. I come along out of wedlock. I'm really the head of the family right now. But then I've got, 6 of us now... I buried 4 in the last month. That's uncles and aunts and things like that.
*** Was there any drug abuse or alcoholism in the family?
No...Well, what I had the one sister's husband bent his elbow, beer and stuff now and then but that's about it. My step-father was hard working. This used to be a citrus belt. Where they grew all the oranges and he worked for a contractor who had a bunch of orange groves and he hauled oranges all of his life and stuff like that. By the time I got up to go to work I had to go into the Army, so I couldn't really follow in his tracks.
*** At what age were you when you became homeless?
Oh, man... I would say... It ain't been that long ago now about, I'd say about 15 to 20 years.
*** And that's not a long ago to you?
Well...it..it's a while but you once you are homeless you don't try to keep up with time.
*** Do you remember how it happened?
Well, no money. I tried to stay with friends and they just... you know when you stay with friends, you know especially the so-called good friends... when you go money coming....I had compensation from the VA,... and as long as you the money is there you're fine. But if you don't have the money or they say they need it, you gotta go. I ended up having to move out one night and the only place I had to go was right down the road from where we was staying. In the woods. I knew some guys that had been out there. So for about 4 months I lived right there. By myself.
*** You didn't have family or children you could live with?
No. Nope. Well I was out of contact with them, you know. I lived right there. As long as I was there I had peace of mind. Nobody hassling me. It was like paradise to me. I couldn't have it any better. Then my daughter, somehow she come over to see me. She couldn't find me. Then some guy that knew me told her oh I think he's out living in the woods. But she knew, my daughter knew, I was going through this PTSD, post traumatic stress thing from Vietnam because we had already been to the VA place to talk about this and the VA recruiter told us that just, you know, if he's comfortable out there... She tried to have me Baker Acted. She said, no, no, no,...She tried to get them to do it. They said no we're not going to do that, he's been through enough. That Vietnam thing, so you don't want to put him through that again. She was going to try to have the police do it. They says no don't send the police to bother him because it might get ugly and you really don't want that. Just leave him alone. He's not bothering anybody. When he gets ready he'll come to us. So, when my daughter told me that I was kinda mad and then when I thought about it...she says she was concerned about me, you know.
No, she's up in Alabama. She's like me. We just parted company. She wants to be concerned about me but she is too... wants to be... I'm 63. I'm your father, you're not my mother. Just leave me alone, let me have my peace of mind and I'll be just fine.
*** Are you happy?
Not really. Not really. I mean know I tell people I'm fine, I'm alright, but sometimes I'm by myself and start to thinking and you know things start running through my mind. Look at ya, you're homeless. You don't have this. You used to go deep sea fishing. You don't do that anymore. You don't go to football games. You don't do nothing. You know, it hurts a little bit but then on the other side of that same coin is hey I got nobody to worry about but me. So you know.
(More with Frank next post)
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