Police brutality. Black lives matter. Terrorism. Gun control. Violence.
These are all keywords we have been seeing in the headlines lately. With the 2016 election campaign in full swing, the presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees have been covering these topics closely as they race for the White House.
However, while all these topics are extremely important, I feel there is one subject that is not discussed nearly as much as it should be.
What about our veterans?
Try googling statistics about veterans.
These are the questions that appear in the "People Also Ask Box:"
"How many homeless veterans are there?"
"How many veterans are unemployed in the US?"
"How many Vietnam veterans have PTSD?"
Here are the answers.
In January 2014, communities across America identified 49,993 homeless veterans during point-in time counts.
In 2014, 21.2 million men and women were veterans. Of those, 573,000 were unemployed.
The U.S Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts almost 31% of all Vietnam veterans.
This is a large problem. Even more so, is the blatant lack of respect for our men and women in the armed forces.
There are an appalling amount of groups on social media platforms dedicated to "not supporting the troops. You would think no American in their right mind would participate in anything like that.
In a Facebook group called "Don't Support The Troops," there are nearly 800 people following the page. That is only one group.
I am going to give you a huge newsflash people: You can be against war but still support our veterans. After all, soldiers are one of the groups most affected by war.
One of the main reasons why we are over in Irag and Afghanistan is to help train their counties' soldiers so they can protect their citizens from terrorists. How is that in any way dishonorable?
So in November, I'll be casting my vote for the candidate who will provide assistance to our veterans once and for all. The candidate that will fund programs that assist veterans and their families, get our veterans off the street and in the business world and who stand outside of an airplane with families welcoming our troops home. I need someone who boosts our soldier's moral and makes them believe they are fighting for a country who deserves their sacrifice.
I'm still not sure who that candidate will be.