NCOA Journal
Mar-Apr02
National Defense Foundation
9-11 Impacts Veterans -- Foundation Reacts
By Richard C. Schneider
Executive Director, National Defense Foundation
The September 11th terrorist attack on America at the World Trade Center (WTC) and Pentagon impacted the nation's veterans in many ways.
Many people including homeless veterans in the area adjacent to the WTC lost their possessions and spaces where they had lived in New York City.
The VA Veteran Centers throughout the city responded in many diverse ways to meet the needs of their veterans, as well as countless civilians, whose lives were personally impacted by the terrorist attack. People in New York's metropolitan area, which geographically included New Jersey, suffered a traumatic experience as a result of the assault and witnessing countless people jump to their death, watching the saga unfold. The horror, sights and sounds that day exposed the entire Nation to the emotional trauma of the event.
Many war veterans across the country began to experience the trauma of their combat service and turned to the Vet Centers and VA medical care facilities for help. The reality of 9-11 now coupled with the deployment of American Forces and the continuing day-to-day efforts to search for those lost at the WTC and cleanup actions reinforce the trauma and emotional strain of this catastrophic event.
The Foundation, working with the VA Readjustment Counseling Center Staff, responded by making 30 Winter Awards to VA Vet Centers and, in coordination with the Department's Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) program managers, provided an additional 20 grants to VA Medical Center HCHV units throughout the United States to assist outreach and communication efforts to homeless veterans. These grants recognized that war veterans, who comprise the majority of homeless veterans nationwide, would be at further personal risk and needed to have special programs available during the lonely cold months of winter. Two special grants were provided to Ground Zero Vet Centers in Manhattan and the Bronx to assist veterans who lived adjacent to the WTC.
Nationwide, veterans have been reflecting on their own wartime experiences, former comrades-in-arms, friends and fellow Americans whose lives were lost or disrupted by the events of September 11. Veterans could not get away from the absence of the WTC on the city block or visible on its horizon, see or sense the smoke rising from the ruins, sense the smell in the air, feel the dust, or watch the deployment of America's warriors for combat.
Veterans in New York and Washington, DC began calling military recruiters and even NCOA's National Capital Office volunteering for recall to active duty.
One retired 69-year-old reserve veteran knew by law, and he was correct, that he could be recalled up to age 70 and wanted a chance to serve.
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