A Lesson Never Learned

He’s a veteran of the Vietnam war.
He was in detox last month, then in a halfway house.
He used to wake up drinking and went to bed drinking.
His energy was slowly leaving his body.
He had just enough strength to get out of bed and grab a beer.
One in four homeless Americans are veterans.
More veterans are coming home from war
and things are not likely to get any better.
“This nation has not learned our lesson from Vietnam
and the same thing is happening all over again.”