Just Another Homeless Viet Nam Vet Story

"Ken" is a 56 year old Viet Nam vet, who served the country as a Maine. He was married, had children and divorced. Like many military personnel that served during war, he became addicted to alcohol and often turned to street drugs, to deal with the horrors he witnessed. As one vet told me, "the government forced me to eat rats, and kill people" and he "did not like to eating rats and killing people". Growing up playing Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, or "lets pretend we are at war" games, did not prepare these just out of high school boys for the realities of blood shed. Some, like Ken came back, scarred for life.

Due to his use of alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism to dull his mind, Ken wound up homeless. Living on the streets, his habits became his full time occupation. During those 3 years on the streets, he managed to stay on the right side of the law. He was lucky not to be arrested due to illegal use of drugs. He went through a program that helped him become clean and sober. This enabled him to get a low-paying job as a Security Guard. He moved from the Sober Living home into an apartment. Sounds like a happy ending, but there is more.

The call of alcohol was too much for Ken, and "one little bottle of wine, now and then won't hurt", he thought. He only drank on his nights off, but that drinking soon caused him to think about getting high. Being under the influence of alcohol, he decided to get some amphetamines. At his age, staying awake and alert on the nightshift was a problem to him. His body was no longer able to adjust to a nocturnal existence. That's when the trouble started.