Saving Private Mohan

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Sidewalks with Tom Deignan

Saving Private Mohan

January 24, 2008

by Tom Deignan

THE photo is a striking one. A burly man with long, shaggy hair sits at a table. He is clearly exhausted. His elbows rest on the table, while his large hands cover his cheeks and rub at his eyes. And there on the tired man’s right hand is a Claddagh ring.

He is Peter Mohan, a 28-year-old, Irish American, homeless veteran.

In recent weeks, Mohan has become a symbol of something not often talked about yet very disturbing. The fact that Mohan’s condition -– and the fact that there are an additional 500,000 or so homeless vets in the U.S. –- is flying under the radar is made all the more troubling because you’d think this would be a central issue in the heated presidential race unfolding.

It’s easy to make jokes about how out of touch politicians are. And, for that matter, how out of touch the voting public is.

So, let’s just leave it at this — the likes of Peter Mohan should be a more important topic on the campaign trail than Hillary’s tears or Mitt’s Mormonism.

Thankfully, Mohan –- who returned from Iraq only to confront divorce and serious injuries related to a car accident -– has found help. As it turns out, it is a group of Irish Americans working in the field of veteran’s services who are trying to steer vets who become homeless back in the right direction.

There is John Driscoll, a vice president at a group called the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. Formed by veterans in 1990, the coalition came to exist because it seemed clear that too many veterans’ needs were going unmet.

“According to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates, government programs currently available will reach only about 20% of America’s homeless veterans. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans is the only national organization specifically dedicated to improving the opportunities for these deserving Americans to regain control of their lives and once again enjoy the freedoms they helped preserve,” says the group, which offers services in nearly all 50 states.

Then there is Jack Downing, president of a group called Soldier On, based in Leeds, Massachusetts. Most of the workers at Soldier On are, themselves, homeless veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam.

Groups such as Soldier On and the Coalition for Homeless Vets, along with the VA, are where folks like Mohan go when the seemingly joyous return home itself turns nightmarish.

There is a temptation, as Irish Americans, to believe this is a bit of a distant issue. After all, the Irish in the U.S. remain a relatively urban and suburban crowd, whereas returning soldiers -– especially those who fall on hard times –- always seem to be from some rural town down south or out west.

Yet military service in northeast states such as New York and New Jersey is not uncommon, particularly among Irish Americans, especially when it comes to the military reserves. Numerous high profile stories of heroism, not to mention tragedy, have involved Irish American servicemen from Long Island, Queens, Staten Island and the suburbs of upstate New York or Pennsylvania.

There was Jersey’s Frank Carvill, and more recently Lieutenant Mike Murphy of Patchogue.

According to recent statistics, as many as one in four homeless Americans is a veteran of the military service. Yes, sometimes, these people are their own worst enemy, sinking into a pit of drugs, alcohol, bad relationships and violence.

That all being said, whatever one believes about the current conflict in Iraq, most Americans generally have nothing but praise for most members of the service.

And yet, look at the state of Walter Reed hospital. Look at how soldiers are unable to obtain protective equipment that could very well save their life.

Look at the strains military life puts on most families. Yes, they did make a choice to sign on. Sure, they knew what they were getting into.

Maybe, though, it’s time for us to re-think what we are giving back to the soldiers.

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