Homeless vets will watch Vets Day Parade from sidewalk

Like war itself, the skirmish over the Veteran’s Day Parade makes for weird alliances. We find ourselves suddenly warming to flag-waving Tom Hennessy; his P-T column today delicately takes on parade organizers for their decision to ban anti-war veterans groups. On the other hand, while we’ve said nice things about one of those organizers, Councilmember Val Lerch, we get to tell him that his decision to ban anti-war groups from the parade is, um, stupid.

We could go over the legal reasons (the city subsidizes the parade; that makes it a public, not private, event), but the real reason is this: the bungled invasion and occupation of Iraq could not have unfolded as they did without an organized attempt by some Americans to silence others.

Today’s news produces another compelling reason to open the Veterans Day Parade to a variety of voices: a National Alliance to End Homelessness study concludes that a quarter of all homeless men and women are veterans. Citing the report, a Seattle Times writer notes, “The problem could grow worse with the return of many troops from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries, conditions that put them at high risk for homelessness . . . .”

That’s a political message that would be worth remembering Saturday. But parade organizers say they don’t want politics, just a parade for vets; as the homeless study suggests, politics makes veterans, and veterans disproportionately become homeless.

So, Val: let’s not repeat the errors of 2002-2003 when Americans with mouths bigger than their brains and access to a an F-150 with an American flag in the back tried to silence a courageous few Americans. How we about we hear from everybody?

Tags: Ford F-150, invasion, iraq, parade, peace, press telegram, speech, tom hennessy, val lerch, veterans