Let's Call Them the Homeless Heroes and Resolve to End It Now

The parades are over, the fireworks are stilled, the politicians have finished their July 4 rounds. Why don't we begin, here and now, the moral equivalent of the Berlin airlift to mobilize support, education, voluntarism and fundraising for causes and groups that serve the homeless veterans of America?

Lets call them the homeless heroes, and to paraphrase President Kennedy, who said that we must do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard, make this pledge:

Within 100 days of the inaugural of the next American President resolve that there should not be one homeless or hungry veteran in America and resolve that our commitment moves beyond that day until we banish hunger and homelessness from the land.

If we stand for anything, we stand for this, and if we fight for this, we will mobilize old friends and win new friends in every military family and house of worship in America.

Let our opponents talk their trash of treason; our real response should be to reach out with our hearts and our help in the spirit of national unity, standing with our young men and women who serve with courage and valor before the parades begin, and after the fireworks end.

Every day stories are written about a new generation of homeless vets who return from Iraq, joining hundreds of thousands who are without homes today, from wars fought before.

There are stories of disabled vets who don't get the full support they deserve, or face a benefit structure that is stingy and unworthy. There are new cases of relapse of post traumatic stress disorder, from vets who suffered in previous wars and have their problem re-emerge more acutely with the headlines of news from Iraq.

When I refer to a new Berlin airlift, I mean a wholehearted commitment beyond any level that exists today from Congress or the Bush Administration; efforts from entertainers to light the sky with their talent and call to action; new alliances between progressives and the blogosphere with groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans and groups serving those who return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

When I refer to the "moral equivalent" of a new Berlin Airlift, I propose a reaching out to the great religions and religious leaders throughout America, where progressives, the blogosphere and entertainers cross the great divide of our national divisions and seek reconciliation, unity and reaching out to build alliances in common cause.

Why not a higher level of hearings in Congress and far bolder proposals from our political leaders?

Why not teach ins and seminars in our colleges and universities inviting the vets, groups that support them and religious leaders who stand against homelessness to make their case and issue their call to action?

Why not a direct airlift of entertainers, through the USO and to communities across the nation, in a historic industry-wide commitment that builds on good work being done today and rises to higher and higher levels at a time when these vets genuinely need and deserve our help, and a grateful nation will join our efforts with pride?

Why not a one week national roadshow or tour with leading Democratic heroes in war, John Kerry, Jack Murtha, Bob Kerrey, John Glenn, Max Cleland,Daniel Inouye, Wes Clark where they travel by bus or train to the community centers, campuses, churches and synagogues of the nation to stir the conscience and rally the support of an America tired of the politics of anger, bitterness and partisanship?

Thomas Paine wrote, we have the power to remake the world. We, here, today, have the power to remake our politics into a united endeavor of shared patriotism and purpose. Let our opponents play their politics of fear and demonization; let our answer be the answer of the countless entertainers who fought the Second World War on the battlefield or toured the world in support of the effort; and let our answer be the answer of the 101st Airborne memorialized so brilliantly by Ambrose in his Band Of Brothers.

We should stand by our heroes, because it is right. The American people will stand with us, because they will know that we are right. They are America's homeless heroes, our neighbors and our cause, and we have the power lift them up, if only we care, and act.

With the moral equivalent of an airlift of hope and support to those who serve, we will seek to achieve a long overdue airlift of integrity and honor to our political system, based on the highest ideals and aspirations of our democracy.