Yeah ... I know exactly what you mean ... many of those homeless living down by the river are waiting for their VA Hospital appointments
Oh, I honestly doubt that. And I worked for a non-profit in LA that specifically served homeless veterans. I volunteered with them for many years as well as lived there, and I worked several "Homeless Veteran Stand-Down" in the SF Bay area.
And as somebody who used to actively reach out to the "Homeless Veteran" community, it becomes immediately obvious that the vast majority that claim that had never served a day in their life. To be more accurate, your statement should have been
many of those homeless living down by the river claim they are waiting for their VA Hospital appointments
And trust me, have almost any real veteran talk to them, and we can normally spot the holes in their claims with ease. They can tell you what they did (most for some reason are combat arms), but be unable to actually remember what their MOS code is (or even more jokingly give the wrong one or a code from another branch). I have seen them make up units (2nd Battalion, 0 Marine Regiment is still my favorite), claim they were at bases that make no sense, one even claimed to have been a rank that had been discontinued before he was even born.
When I first worked with US Vets in the early 2000s, we sponsored the Stand-Downs at least twice a year. Generally Memorial Day and Labor Day, it was four days in which we tried to reach as many homeless vets as we could. And the first day, the turnout was always insane. Literally thousands of homeless showed up, all of them claiming to be Veterans. And at this time, verification from the VA took 2-3 days. But by the second day we would start to weed out those that never served. And by the final day, we might have a couple of dozen. And we would help a couple, the rest simply did not want to give up their drinking or drugs so we just sent them off cleaner with new clothes.
Now in the late 2010s, it had changed a lot. By then, the VA Rep could tell us immediately if somebody had served or not. And we turned away over 95% of those that showed up without letting them in. And once again, of the less than 100 we would take in from the entire SF Bay Area, less than 10 could we help. There are a lot of programs to help, both VA as well as state, local, and non-profits. But one thing is pretty much universal among all of them. Unless the individual is willing to be sober, there is nothing that can be done for them.
I bet if somebody from the VA was to go down, 99% of that "homeless by the river" are unable to provide any proof they ever served in the military. I have been homeless myself, and have worked for years to try and help the "real homeless Veterans". And in reality, they are really rare. The vast majority that make that claim are liars and frauds. And the majority of the rest are alcoholics and addicts, that can not be helped until they are ready to be sober.
