Stand-downs help veterans readjust to society 

Sunday, November 14, 1999

By VICTOR EPSTEIN, Staff Writer 


Tom Pierson wafted through his first stand-down for homeless veterans five 
months ago in a daze brought on by decades of alcohol and drug abuse. He was 
emaciated, weak, unkempt, and virtually helpless. On Saturday the Vietnam-era 
veteran was robust, alert, and sober as he attended a second stand-down, in 
Fort Myers. 

Painfully sober. 

Almost everything irritated the former hand-to-hand combat instructor as he 
moved among the 70 other homeless veterans at the day-long event. 

"I have no patience when I'm clean and sober," said Pierson, 53. He was 
clean-shaven and looked like a tourist in a pair of sockless moccasins and a 
red, white and blue shirt. 

"I'm always on the verge of going off now," Pierson said. "I was shopping the 
other day and they only had two cash registers open and it just made me nuts. 
I don't even know how to drive anymore. I was behind a tractor-trailer and it 
absolutely freaked me out. I was always high when I drove before. Now, it's 
all new to me. I'm having to learn to do everything sober." 

It's not unusual for Vietnam-era veterans like Pierson, who had been abusing 
drugs and alcohol since 1969, to be unnerved by their newfound sobriety. It's 
one of many hurdles in the difficult transition from a life on the streets to 
a new role in the society that spurned them decades ago. 

That society wants its veterans back now - all of them - and is reaching out 
to the least-fortunate through stand-downs sponsored by the U.S. Department 
of Veterans Affairs. The term is military parlance for a place of safety 
where combat troops can rest and regroup. The V.A. conducts about 12 
stand-downs annually in Florida. Saturday's program was the first in 
Southwest Florida this year. 

The goal is to help homeless veterans reclaim their lives and help those who 
aren't ready to leave the streets to live a little bit longer. The services 
provided to them Saturday ranged from medical care to benefits screening. The 
men also were fed and loaded down with military-surplus clothing. 

Three of the seven veterans from Naples came away with significant benefits 
that included a $300 monthly pension, dental care, and a berth in a 
post-traumatic-stress-disorder program at Bay Pines V.A. Medical Center, in 
St. Petersburg. 

They were entitled to the benefits all along, but just didn't know how to 
apply for them. 

"We try to get them into the system where we can help them," said Willis 
Baldwin, of the Fort Myers VA. "They're getting older, they need more medical 
care and they're entitled to it. They showed up when this country asked them 
to. Now, it's payback time." 

There are an estimated 250,000 homeless veterans in the U.S., according to 
the V.A., and more than 2,000 in Southwest Florida. Sixty percent of all 
homeless veterans served during the Vietnam-era. All of the Naples veterans 
at the stand-down served during the Vietnam War. 

Chuck Adams, 52, is a typical troubled veteran. He drove fuel trucks to bases 
scattered across South Vietnam in 1967-68. He had two blown up by enemy fire 
and has had a problem with alcohol ever since. He's been divorced four times. 

Eighty percent of all Vietnam-era veterans have been divorced, according to 
V.A. statistics, and 90 percent have had substance abuse problems. 

"Ever since Vietnam I ain't been right," said Adams. "I just can't get close 
to anybody because they don't understand. That's part of the reason I've been 
divorced four times. 

"I'm running into the same thing now with my sponsor in (Alcoholics 
Anonymous) because he doesn't understand why I'm having so much trouble with 
the fourth step that requires you to make amends to all the people you've 
hurt," he said. "I can't do that because some of those people are dead. They 
shot holes in my truck and I shot holes in them. They're dead. How am I ever 
going to make amends to them - you know." 

Adams has been sober since Oct. 14 through the help of a live-in 
rehabilitation program at St. Matthews House in Naples. He'll spend the next 
five months in the post-traumatic-stress-disorder program at Bay Pines. 

The prospects are good for homeless veterans who are ready to change. But 
they're bleak for those who aren't ready. 

Two of the seven Naples veterans who attended the last stand-down, in June, 
are turning their lives around. Pierson is one of them. A third died a few 
weeks ago, at age 45, from physical damage brought on by decades of drug 
abuse. 

Pierson is living at St. Matthews House and has been clean and sober since 
June. But it's a difficult and infuriating task. 

"I'm taking it one day at a time," said Pierson, "but I feel like I'm 
pissed-off all the time." 

Getting angry is part of the healing process, according to V.A. homeless 
program coordinator Kevin O'Donnell. 

"You stay pissed off," O'Donnell told Pierson, "We'll get it straightened 
out. It's good for you. It means you're getting some feeling back."