I’m appalled by Mr. Gitlin’s continued blatant disrespect for American veterans. He continues to characterize the homeless as ‘vagabonds’ and ‘transients’, however, even the most cursory investigation of the nature of the homeless would reveal that a large number are veterans. Although flawless counts are difficult to come by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that 40,056 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only 7% of the general population can claim veteran status, but 13-17% of the homeless adult population are veterans. Ten percent of the homeless veterans are reported to be women. The next time I read here of Mr. Gitlin’s irrefutable disrespect for our veterans will be my last time as I will cancel my subscriptions to both the Triplicate and the Pilot. In the meantime, I intend to address local veteran’s groups explaining Mr. Gitlin’s opinion of those that served our nation and now find themselves homeless.
Michael A. Sommer II, Ph.D.
Smith River, CA