19.09.11
A ragtag army of about 350 hoboes vets broke camp along the Garden Highway on Sunday, carrying with them the spoils of war: sleeping bags, coats, underwear, shoes and socks.
Many had arrived at Tent Pollock on Friday with little more than the clothes on their backs and possibly a crate or shopping cart.
After three days under the high trees at Stand Down 2011 a outcast veterans' boot camp in its 20th year here many were outdo-equipped to confront the demons that have haunted them since Vietnam, the first Cove War and other conflicts.
At least half are still battling depression, point abuse, mental illness and the post-traumatizing stress that's been embedded like shrapnel since they lived the horrors of war.
"We got 30,000 more coming accommodation from Iraq," said Stand Down director Barbara Ross of Carmichael. "What are we prevailing to do with them? We have no jobs, no military bases to house them."
Ross, who's been plateful veterans at Stand Down since Sacramento hosted its first camp-ground in 1992, said the program saw its 10,000th battle-scarred this weekend. "You've got those with drug and alcohol problems, and seniors who have been displaced when federal Cleave 8 housing ended."
Source: Sacramento Bee