Moogie's Blog

Thankfully, today there was some mainstream "news" coverage of the homeless problem among our military veterans.

Of particular interest was the point about our female veterans. Although they are less likely to become substance abusers, they are more likely to suffer from emotional illness (from exposure to combat stress). After the first Gulf War, the illnesses (emotional and physical) were often not recognized or treated. Now there is more recognition of these conditions, but veterans often cannot access a full range of treatment.

How many days of military spending would it cost us to build a state-of-the-art hospital to serve our veterans in every state? One center, build with private funds in Texas, the Center for the Intrepid, cost $50 million. Let's make it regional. 6 more would cost $300 million. Let's say $400 million by the time construction is completed. That's two days of war in Iraq.

TWO DAYS.

Can we get some news media interest in a project like this?

http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/content/pdf/2007_01_FA
CTSHEET_CenterForTheIntrepid_REVISED__6_1_5146_404_6_1_
6264.pdf

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/23/4049/a>