Think Progress reports:
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- – 338,000 or almost one in five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are experiencing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, or major depression as of January 2009.
- – Yet only 53 percent suffering from PTSD or major depression have seen a physician or mental health provider.
- – 154,000 veterans were homeless on any given night in 2007, and 300,000 were homeless at some point during that year.
- – One-third of homeless Americans are veterans, even though only one-tenth of all adults are veterans.
- – Foreclosure rates in military towns were increasing at four times the national average in last year.
President Obama, in his weekly address, said:
“Our fighting men and women – and the military families who love them – embody what is best in America. And we have a responsibility to serve all of them as well as they serve all of us. And yet, all too often in recent years and decades, we, as a nation, have failed to live up to that responsibility. We have failed to give them the support they need or pay them the respect they deserve.”
“That is a betrayal of the sacred trust that America has with all who wear – and all who have worn – the proud uniform of our country,” Obama added. “And that is a sacred trust I am committed to keeping as President of the United States.”
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