I am a homeless vet.... (F bombs are dropped)

This isn't the kind of post I have invisioned for my site, but this thought has bugged me for the past few days.







Homeless Vets - Americas responsibility





I recently walked downtown St. Louis Missouri on my way to a baseball game. I happened to encounter 3 "homeless" people along the way. What struck me was the fact that all 3 homeless gents happened to have "I'm a Viet Vet, and Im homeless" or something like that which is supposed to make the average person feel bad and want to give money.





Here is my problem. I was raised by a true Vietnam Vet. My father was stationed in the heart of the war, and he was stationed there for all 4 years of his career. He has seen some disturbing things. Some things he's told me about, the bodies he's found that were half gone due to the napalm that accidently hit our own troops. Another story that sticks out is the Viet Cong Gorrilas which my father helped keep on our side by paying them for every human ear they brought back which "belonged" to the rivals which the US was fighting. Just so you know, the movies that show Viet fighters with ears around their neck on a necklace, that came from the truth........

What makes me wonder is the stuff my father wouldn't tell me about. He has told me some fucked up stuff that happened to him and his platoon during that 4 year span. It worries me that he still has things to hide to this day about what really happend over there to our troops.

Hell, to this day when I visit my family, and if I have to awake my father, I still stand 5 feet away when I do. If I didn't do this, I'd have a black eye, if not a broken neck. I believe the man has seen hell.

Yet, he still came back home and raised a family.

My sister is my sister. She has made herself into the best person she could be. Myself, well, I am a college grad still trying to figure myself out. And yes, I am succesful. My dad tells me he is proud of me. I don't see how after knowing just half of what he has seen. My god, I never even served my country, let alone killed someone because that someone was going to kill one of my own.....

K, enough rambling, back to my subject. Homeless Vets........ Each time I see a person on the street with a sign that resembles that phrase, I want to beat the shit out of them. I know a lot of people that fought that war, and that seen a lot of stuff that I, and the majority of the people that will read this blog pray we never see in our lifetime.... Yet these people made a life....... I don't like laziness, I don' like self pitty, and I especially don't like liars that try to take advantage of men's lives.....


To the people that use the "I am a Vet" theme to make money, I feel sorry for you. And to the people that feel sorry for them, I feel sorry for you too.....


Just my two cents.........

Stegs

The Start - Lets see what's Nside........

Howdy, Hello, How are you,........ All basic ways of introducing one's self.... So there it is, we are introduced.... If interested, read on..... My name is Kenny, (Ken in the world I hate) and I work as an Engineer in St. Louis (Go Salukis!!! oh, I mean GO cards!!!) I graduated as a Civil Engineer and now do Pipeline Engineering, and I am still waiting to use my engineering degree..... How funny is that?? Enough about work!!! More about me, I grew up in Southern Illinois, and I hope that I die there. After moving away, seeing how the "real world" works, I understand that anything I ever needed was at my fingertips in that place. Sure, I have fast food, I have theatres, and my god I have malls all within 5 minutes of me. But back in that place I left, there is heart and soul (and not to mention good people) and you can talk to a man that really did work from sunrise to sunset (see what I put in parenthesis). Sure, there are hundreds of places like SI across the country, but your gonna hear about the place I grew up and about my fight to leave it, but ultimately my ongoing fight within to make my way back to embrace it...... This is the life of Kenny Stegall, a very tiny bit of his past, a whole lot of his present, and a big view of what he hopes his future holds.........


I hope you enjoy the journey......