New York City declares end to chronic vets homelessness

Check out this article from Army Times: New York City declares end to chronic vets homelessness http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/2015/12/31/nyc-chronic-homelessness/78126870/
New York City declared an end to chronic veterans homelessness this week, another both positive and confusing indicator for the six-year national effort to help the most vulnerable former service members.
In a press release Wednesday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio praised the milestone as an important step forward for the city and the nation.

A poem I wrote for the homeless Vets:

Where has all the time gone, where the hell did it go,
I was once looked up to, I was a war hero.
Now I sleep where ever I can, where ever I can find,
My face is so old and wrinkled, life has not been kind.

A half century ago, I served when I was called to go,
I was a combat soldier, proud and brave, ready for the show.
My time in Vietnam prepared me for my life,
Drugs and booze were my strength, which led to my strife.

Today I eat whatever I can find, I sleep wherever I can,
I am the people I hate, I am the one they can't stand.
The life I know of using drugs and becoming a boozer,
Has almost, but not quite, helped make me a total loser.

Then one day it happened, I had not thought of Him in years,
I fell to my knees in prayer and shed a half century of tears.
God told me to rise up, go forth, and again become a man,
Now today, I show others like me, what God will do and can.

© Keith Bodine 06/21/2007
A Homeless Veteran