So there are approximately 300,000 veterans of the Iraq disaster who have sustained brain injuries or who are coming home with mental problems. The thing is, some of them either have no home to go back to or just refuse to go home, and they end up on the streets, homeless.
Whatever the reason they're homeless, they are not the same kind of homeless vets that fought in Vietnam or South America. Those guys did battle in jungles. They know jungle warfare. The Iraq vets did battle in urban areas...the cities and towns as well as the desert. They know urban warfare.
This means that, in San Diego and other cities and towns, the new homeless vets are not camping down by the river among the trees and bushes in a jungle like environment and similar places as the Vietnam era vets are. The Iraq vets are downtown on the streets where the combat territory is familar to them.
They know how to operate in the city environment. If they don't want to be seen, they won't be. This then means that a lone person is no longer as safe wandering around downtown at night as previously they were.
This information comes from a man who who knows many of these homeless Iraq vets, and who knows they have lost none of their combat skills and knows they can and will use them if they feel the need. He warns that if you're downtown at night and you see a guy talking to an invisible other, you'd best steer clear.
So be very aware or as the military would put it, be situationally aware. Which leaves the question: What now?
Wrap...
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