Strata-G Supports Homeless Veterans
Monday November 10, 2008
Honoring Their Service To Our Country
WBIR, Knoxville Channel 10
By: Jim Matheny
In what seemed like a typical Veterans Day celebration Tuesday night, veterans enjoyed food, fellowship, and patriotic songs. But the festivities at the Knox Area Rescue Ministries focused on a specific group of veterans: the homeless.
"If you're invisible to begin with because you're homeless, and you're also a veteran, you do have that sense of being very much forgotten," said KARM Executive Director Burt Rosen.
Both current and future veterans volunteered to ensure Knoxville's homeless veterans were not ignored on Veterans Day. More than 15 Arnold Air Society Cadets from the University of Tennessee's ROTC program served food during the event.
Tuesday marked UT senior cadet Rich Shepherd's fourth consecutive year of serving food to the homeless at KARM's annual Veterans Day feast.
"Someday we will be vets, so it's an honor for us to come out and serve them and thank them for what they've done," said Shepherd.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates about one-third of the adult homeless population have served in the Armed Services.
That statistic was not lost on Navy veteran Dan Hurst, who emceed an evening ceremony that individually recognized the homeless veterans who attended the event.
"As a veteran, I appreciate the service these veterans gave to our country," said Hurst. "In their time of need, I want to be here to serve them."
Retired Lieutenant Colonel and Vietnam Veteran, Don McConnell of the United States Army, presented veterans with an American flag lapel pin to honor their military service during the ceremony.
Rosen said women make up the fastest growing portion of homeless veterans. Rosen said about 11% of newly homeless veterans are women.
