A Distorted Image of a Hero and Heroine

Amanda Weimer
Section 48

A Distorted Image of a Hero and Heroine

The initial thought, which goes through many people’s mind when passing a homeless person, is normally nothing much. Other than, “a nuisance in whom I give my money to.” A rather selfish thought, but nonetheless, most people have thought it at least once. Many of the homeless people we pass on the streets are heroes or heroines--our very own country’s veterans. Although this should be an influence in people helping the poor; little is done to help our fellow comrades. In fact, many people act indifferent toward the homeless and homeless veterans. How can a person be put to blame for doing so, many of us have too much going on in our lives. We often take for granted the opportunity to help others, because of being stressed out and being loaded with our own problems.
Just like regular homeless people, the sexes are both included, sometimes it involves their families and sometimes they don’t have families. Homeless veterans are not just old men who have served in WWII or the Vietnam War, but also young females and males. Female Veterans can relate to a recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune, “Female veterans increasing part of homeless picture”. The article was written by Matthew D. LaPlante, a columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune. He has illustrated a sad picture with the words from a former homeless veteran woman named Deborah Caldwell
Deborah Caldwell was not really aware of the chances and benefits that were waiting for her as a veteran. During her entrance to the Road House Homeless Shelter in Salt Lake City, she was overlooked when the question of military service came up. The only reason is because Ms. Caldwell is 29 years old. Luckily, Ms. Caldwell noticed and voiced about her serving in the air force. The fact that Ms. Caldwell is young and female, worked at her disadvantage, and she was overlooked. Since the Afghanistan war there has been a distinct rise in young homeless women. But, thankfully, she and her three children will be moving out of the shelter and into a home, sometime soon (Matthew LaPlanite, Salt Lake Tribune).
According to an article in The New York Times, “For Veterans, A Weekend Pass From Homelessness”, there are now approximately 250,000 homeless Veterans. In the article “Female veterans increasing part of homeless picture”, approximately 6,000 homeless women veterans have been reported from around the nation. Even though it seems small compared to the 250,000+ total homeless veterans; it is a substantial amount compared to previous years. Of course women soldiers have not been enlisted in combat until about the Civil War when most women could be nurses or sometimes spies. (Erik Eckholm, New York Times.)
Many questions occur as to who should be blamed. Most people blame the actual homeless person. Sadly enough a lot of the heroes and heroines who return home suffer from a PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. It can affect not only the individual, but also their loved ones and friends. PTSD haunts a person in the night with continuous nightmares, and haunts a person in the day with constant reminders of horrors in the field. PTSD can be triggered by a simple motion of a fan blade, a shot of a gun, or anything; one moment they are at home, and the next moment they are back fighting.
Due to PTSD and other health issues, many soldiers cannot find jobs. Many have family members who leave them, taking children, or leaving them behind. It is as if life is slowly going downhill; everything is breaking, and everything is ruined, and it’s as if nothing can be fixed. To feel as lost and as hopeless as many of our homeless veterans feel, is a pity. Can they really be blamed? I disagree, people mess up every day, and it’s a part of life. From my own interview I have gathered much of the same ideas as to why Veterans become homeless. They loss everything and become hopeless, much like my interviewee Travis Tahnazanie.
Travis Tahnazanie stands roughly 5’7” not very tall and has a soft demur. Sitting in ceramics with him, I would never guess his age over 25; however, he is 28. Also, I would never guess that he served for five years for our country, in the Marine Corps. He begins by exemplifying the reasons for entering the Marine Corps. And like many young men and women, he entered to get away from his previous life. He had gone through trial and error, drugs, and drinking; watching friends and family falling through the cracks. He decided to make something of himself, and make a huge change.
After setting up a contract for five years with the Corps he felt pretty confident in his place. He was well-liked by his superiors and his comrades. He climbed the ladder from position to position, he was not very competitive, and finally just stuck with his normal job. His enlistment was during 2000 and 2005, so many changes were occurring in the GI Bill, Contracts, Country, and everything. As it is, more and more troops were being called into duty. So, when his contract was wrapping up in 2005, he was offered more benefits and the chance to progress his career, if he extended his contract with the Marine Corps. In the military this could be known as a “Stop-Loss”. A “Stop-Loss” is where the president personally calls all military back; even if their contract is about to end. In Travis’s case, however, it is not, because he had the choice of going or returning home.
He of course wanted to return home so he turned down the offer. When he returned home he went through the common terrors of PTSD, and continues to today. He did not have a job right away, and was waiting for his application with the VA to be processed and approved. He started losing money, but he put some away for when he would truly need it. Slowly, he lost his housing, and started bouncing around for the first few months between his sisters and friends. He felt so embarrassed, and hated the idea of bumming off of them; so he started to sleep in his car. During the early mornings he convinced a gym to allow him to use their showers. He would stop every now and then at the homeless shelter for food. This happened in May 2006 until about June 2006. The first time he was homeless did not last long; and in May, he lived with his sister, and he attempted to pay for his room and board.
In 2008, he decided to go back to school, the University of Utah. He received scholarship, because he is Native American. He had a job at Discover Card, and he felt like everything was looking up. The VA, processed his application, he was not being covered by them during his first time being homeless. He thought everything was going well, but suddenly he realized he was even shorter on cash than he thought. There was no way he was going to bum off his friends and family again, so he went to the streets.
It was November Travis began wandering from different homeless shelters; he never stayed at the same one. “Many of the people in the shelters are very scary, never anyone you can trust, and it’s almost eerie at night. I would never stay more than one night at the different shelters.” In his eyes, there was deep anguish, and a bitter look. I did not have to ask why he was so angry. He found it unfair, he had spent five years of service and he had done his part. The government could not pull through and do their promised share.
Around March, Travis Tahanazie finally received a helping hand from the VA. The VA operates a limited number of homeless shelters specially designed for homeless veterans. It’s normally very hard to get into these shelters, even if approved by the VA. The one he attended was called Valerie House; they offer a transition from coming home from war and being reintroduced to the community. It offers, ways to get jobs, and get back into school. For Travis it offered him a home for a little while, and he truly felt as if he was getting back on his feet. For many who go to these shelters, they become comfortable and don’t move on.

Two quotes I gathered from my interview with Travis are
"The biggest thing about being homeless is that it sucks balls, it’s hard to figure out where you are going to go and what you are going to do with all your free time. I mean really that is all that you have is time. Time to think about your current situation, how you got there, why it is that you are still there, and basically just time to feel sorry about yourself. Things could always be better but for you right at that time things just keep getting worse."

"A lot of the whole homeless thing is just hard mentally and physically, I would not like to be there again. In fact I work very hard to try and steer clear of the whole idea, even just talking about it to others set me back."

Both of these quotes display something deeper, a wound many Veterans and homeless face; the sense of loss, confusion, and of being lost. At times it seems as if you can make it through, and one day you realize you can’t, there is nothing less to motivate you, to help you through.
Perhaps the actual homeless Veteran is not the person to blame. Maybe it is the VA. In my interview Travis talks about the VA, taking almost 2 years just to process and approve his application. On top of that, being accepted to the Veterans homeless shelter, took just as long. So, why such an increase, in turn downs, in waiting to be processed and approved?
The Veteran Affairs (VA) processing and approval, takes time and money. Time and money the Veterans do not have. After the war on terrorism began, in 2001, there have been major cutbacks in the GI Bill and funding for the VA. In fact, over the recent years, VA hospitals can no longer pay their bills, so they close up. There are quite a few VA facilities approximately 1577, but it seems as if there are only major facilities such as hospitals located in larger cities. And the facilities located in smaller cities will be closing. The VA hospital located in Waco, Texas is still fighting to stay open, according to an article called Treatment of Veterans. There is already a limited amount of VA hospitals located in the United States. The Treatment of Veterans examines the different issues and problems the VA is facing. Reasons to stay open have only prolonged it to stay open. Protests for it to stay open have also helped them to stay open. (Treatment of Veterans)
The VA, like many other companies, is short staffed and cannot hire enough people. So processing takes a long time. When looking through an application, the employee has to look at everything. From what form of discharge from the military the soldier received, to where they have been and what they have been doing. There are so many requirements needing to be met by the soldier. The entire history of the soldier must be examined, where he or she has been and what form of coverage they need. On top of everything, there is smaller print between the fine print and the little reasons you might not be approved. (Veterans Benefits for Dummies. 20-26)
Beginning with discharges, they first determine if the veteran will be approved or even give, an application. The most common discharge available is a General Discharge (G.D). With this discharge the soldiers, generals and superiors agree, the soldier showed honesty and faithfulness throughout his or her contract and tour. There also is a higher discharge, which is not very common among soldiers. This higher discharge is called Honorable Discharge (H.D) and this means as a soldier you met every requirement. If the soldier fulfills the requirements and was the best at the requirements then they receive a H.D. During the soldier’s tour and service, he or she performs higher than his or her comrades. Other than the H.D and G.D’s is the other is a dishonorable discharge (D.D).
If a soldier is dishonorably discharged, all benefits are revoked. To some people they would think it’s what the soldier deserves. However, from personal experiences including family, sometimes a dishonorable discharge is the only way out of the military. The sad truth is many who serve and make a mistake and receive a D.D. served for a long time. Sacrificed many times, and now are homeless or are facing huge losses. However, if the VA, notices the soldier served for a long time, before being discharged; the VA will determine whether or not benefits will be given. (Veterans Benefits for Dummies. 24-25.)
Earlier on in this essay, it is suggested that there are many rules apply to being approved by the VA. For whatever VA benefit the Veteran is applying for, there is a minimal service requirement, period of service, and discharge characterization. An example from the book

Veterans Benefits for Dummies:

(Veterans Benefits for Dummies. 24-25)
In addition to the different VA benefits applications, there are also different forms of the applications. One is called D.D. Form 214/215 this application refers to only general military does not include the reserves or National Guard. The forms can take up to 180 days to just be requested. The second form is NGB 22/22A which is for the National Guard Adjutant and reserves. The reason for such a long wait for both forms is that there are an estimated 20,000 requests a week. However, since 2008, if you go online, it can take up to 7 days, depending on the veterans’ request. (Veterans Benefits for Dummies. 20-26)
So time to process all of the different applications does take time. And concerning money, it has been argued in the article Treatment of Veterans; both too much money is bad and too little is not enough. When the VA is being given a certain amount each year by the congress, the VA has the responsibility to what the money will go to. There is never enough money but, sometimes the less money can help them out. Sorting who can be accepted and who will have to fix things themselves. With too much money they tend to have too much to do with the money, and they spend it without a though. (Treatment of Veterans)

However with so little funding, they do have to cut down on who is accepted and who won’t be. The VA can’t be blamed for not having enough money. Who is? Perhaps it is the government or the country in general. Can the government really be blamed though? Since the war on terrorism the USA has been sending troops and spending a ton of money on the war. Benefits and coverage for our heroes and heroines has been going up and down. More and more tend to live on the streets.
To be fair, the USA decided to go to war, and we already knew the costs of war. Our current economic state is quite obviously bad, and not only are the benefits of our Veterans being hurt, so is everyone else. It is a shame many of our Veterans sit outside in the cold and starve. It was those very men and women who stood up and fought for an idea of freedom, change, and choice. So what can we do as a country? Perhaps, instead of buying the sweet new IPod, donate the money to the homeless shelter. Volunteer at the nearby, Veterans facilities.
Suggestions on further research, could include, what is going on in the government at the moment to increase benefits; such as the bill being passed by President Barack Obama. A deeper concentration on what specifically the VA needs more coverage on, and help in.

A movie: "Stop-Loss"

Stop-Loss

“Stop-Loss” is a portrayal of about 6 friends from Texas who go to war in Iraq. They serve a unit and spend two tours in Iraq. However, in one of their last runs, they are attacked and follow a run-by car into an alleyway. They chase after the terrorists into a house, which has children and women inside as well. They end up losing a lot of men, and one named Rico gets partly blown to pieces. The movie then flashes forward to when they return home and finally finished their tours.
The theme of the movie is a trial of friendships, the loss of friends, honor, PTSD, and duty. Friendships are questioned as the leader King tries to help his friend Tommy and Steve through their PTSD and loss of comrades. While King does this he puts of his own depression, PTSD and terrors. Steve goes through different stages, where when he drinks a lot, he goes back to the “battle field”. He ends up hitting his fiancé and digging a hole in the yard to hide in. Tommy becomes an alcoholic and breaks a window in at a jewelry store. King is about to have his last day serving, when he becomes Stop Loss, which is where the president orders any soldier of his choice to go back to war. King goes AWOL because he doesn’t want to serve another tour and he doesn’t want to lose more comrades his friends. He attempts to run away from the military, and he drives to Tennessee. But, he goes back to Texas, because Tommy commits suicide. In the end he decides to do the honorable thing and his duty, and returns for another tour.
I actually thought it was a good enough film, however, for accuracy about being stop-loss(ed). I’m sure since he was the head of his group, he would have been informed about the stop-loss, before his last day. And the war scene in the beginning seemed a little shocking, I would expect there to be a procedure, for random attacks. I don’t think the military would have them follow the insurgents into the alleyway, without proper back up. But, it was still a decently set up film, with the intense portrayals of PTSD.

Ehren Tool

Ehren Tool

It amazes me an artiste’s eye. How so many artistes can capture a certain feeling or meaning by the most simple design. Ehren Tool designs many pieces depicting images of war and anti war. The military images themselves are motifs continued throughout his pieces. In an article called “Ehren Tool: A Marine’s Journey” Richard Whittaker the author, comments on his own experience meeting Ehren Tool. He was shocked by Ehrens descriptive pieces featuring different horrific images; soldiers, bombs, guns and military effects. He didn’t realize the actual impact the pieces would have on him until Mr. Tool, gave him cups. Whittaker could not drink out of them; the reason being he felt as if he was a part of the killings. And Ehren’s response was, “But you are anyway, you know.” There is a double meaning by what he is saying. He means you are supporting everything which comes with war mainly death.
His pieces are not meant to portray antiwar, or to dissuade anyone from joining the military. I believe his main reason for his pieces is to make a person aware of everything in war. A paraphrased quote from an article called “From jarhead to bowl maker: Grad student Ehren Tool’s art of war” by Bonnie Powell, describes what I am saying above, “his purpose is to make people think about war… Tool struggles to explain how his work is not antiwar- he sees that term as disrespecting his brothers- but about raising awareness of war.”
I personally enjoyed looking at his pieces on the web. I can see how the pieces speak awareness of war, the images make you think about everyone who has been lost to war; and how we’re all a part of the deaths in some way.
Powell, Bonnie. From jarhead to bowl maker: Grad student Ehren Tool’s art of war
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/10/images/tool_top.jpg&imgrefurl=http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/10/27_tool.shtml&usg=__kZTdx1_yhfaipbPkn4F_u-UzU1Q=&h=250&w=499&sz=31&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=7kQVAPO8t9C-KM:&tbnh=65&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dehren%2Btool%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Whittaker, Powell. Ehren Tool: A Marine’s Journey.
http://www.conversations.org/story.php?sid=66

The Film: Iraq in Fragments

Iraq in Fragments

Iraq in fragments interests me by just the way the film is shot; being shot from a child’s perspective gives a feeling of deep empathy for how children in Iraq are treated. Children have a unique way to say things, what they say produces some of the vaguest and nonsense ideas. However, most children have a very direct way of seeing how things work; including the world. What they say can translate into something much deeper.
In the film the young boy had an assortment of jobs. It appeared he did the biddings of his “boss”. He acted as a runner; checking on things for the bosses job. In addition he cleaned and welded. Throughout the work and the film, he kept saying my boss loves me, my boss he’d never hurt me. The exact quote from the boy is, “He loves me, loves me, he doesn’t swear or beat me.” The boy also quotes his boss, “My boss says I’m like my father.” These two very different quotes are very similar to me. One of the hidden meanings I think is another way of how they worship their god. The boy does his bosses bidding; the Muslim Iraqis do the bidding of their Saddam or God. They both do what they are told, because the upper powers “love” them.
The potential audiences might be non-Iraqis people, so they’ll be aware of how they Iraqis people actually view the war, Saddam, and the government. This quote from the boss is an example of what I mean, “Only the rich will benefit the others will stay the same.” This is in reference to the promises made to their people and the governments. This quote is in reference to Saddam, so what if he oppressed us, he would never let this happen to us.” The ways there are being treated by the world. I think in a way this quote reflects back on the boys quote about his boss loving him no matter what. The truth is the boy was being sworn at and sometimes beating.
I also think an unintended audience, could be Iraqis-their government. The government could take what is being said about their people and use it to push the Americans out of the Iraqis problems.
I have viewed this film twice, once in English, and once before in my anthropology class. It is very sad how the boy is treated. I know, however, in their culture most things, such as beatings, are acceptable. In my mind and heart it hurts me to know such a small child could be reprimanded for things out of his control.

~I highly suggest this documentary to any person.

Interviewing a Veteran

Travis Tahnazanie is twenty-eight and attends the University of Utah. He sits across from me in my ceramics class; no one would guess his school was being paid for by only his Native American scholarship. In addition he is currently living on his GI money. Travis served in the Marine Corps for five years during 2000 and 2005. He finished his entire contract and decided to not further his advancement in his regiment. However, he didn’t know by making the decision of not staying in, it would take a couple of years for him to receive any of his money; which was promised after his contract. During June 2006 until April 2009, he was homeless on and off. Travis felt cheated of course; he filled his side of the contract and he wasn’t receiving their end of the deal. During June 2006 until May 2006 he wasn’t in school and lived in his car. Then from May 2006 to November 2008, he bumped around from his sister’s house and a few friends house, he felt embarrassed to have to bum off of them. And he didn’t have a lot of money; he just had so little, he felt as if keeping as much as he did have was most important. From November 2008 until April 2009, he finally was living on the streets. He would sometimes stay in the homeless shelters but would try not to. He had a job with discover, and was starting up at the U of U. He finally raised enough money to get a place and stay off the streets.

Two direct quotes from Travis:
"the biggest thing about being homeless is that it sucks balls, its hard to figure out where you are going to go and what you are going to do with all your free time. I mean really that is all that you have is time. Time to think about your current situation, how you got there, why it is that you are still there, and basically just time to feel sorry about yourself. Things could always be better but for you right at that time things just keep getting worse."

"A lot of the whole homeless thing is just hard mentally and physically, I would not like to be there again. In fact I work very hard to try and steer clear of the whole idea, even just talking about it to others set me back."

Veteran Collage

This is a photo collage I created. In memory of those who have served us; who have gone through or are going through, homelessness, PTSD, and/or illness; our Troops, our Soldiers.

The photos are not mine, however, there are some pretty amazing photos on google, and other websites.

The VA

The VA stands for the Veterans Affair. And what the VA does is it covers basically anything that a veteran needs covered. Such as hospital bills, home loans, help with jobs, and education. However, to be covered by the VA you must fill lot applications so they can narrow down who really needs the most help out of whom. The problem with this is, the soldier who is enlisting is expecting everything to be covered, because when they enlist, that’s what the GI Bill promises. However they cookie-cut the benefits in joining and you are relinquished all the information. The VA is a good thing. But another issue is the funding for the VA is being cut, so more veterans are being denied, and even big hospitals and other facilities are being closed down or money cuts. It’s not the VA’s fault, a lot of the money cuts are from the recessions and costs of wars over time, which now lay heavily on us.
In addition to money cuts, just being approved of help from the VA is a long process of applications and over viewing of the applications. There is an estimated 10,000 a year being applied. And about 5,000 processors at the VA, to have all the applications over looked; it takes about 6 months to sometimes 2 years. So many of our Veterans who served us end up losing jobs, or become ill and can’t afford medications or help. Many of our Veterans are turned out onto the street.
Triplett, William. Treatment of Veterans: Is the nation keeping its promises to its veterans?. 19 nov. 2004. CQ Researcher. 14. 14. http://library.cqpress.com.tproxy01.lib.utah.edu/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2004111900&type=hitlist&num=0