Outward appearances and circumstance can often time be very deceiving, something proved by Travis Wilson, a former Navy Corp. and currently homeless. After returning from the Navy Wilson faced hardships in a growing addiction to drugs which he has continuously battled. According to reports, Wilson was first on the scene after a life-threatening car accident in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Wilson rushed to the car and used his training in the armed forces to provide neck Stabilization until the EMTs arrived. “You can’t leave the scene. I can’t leave the scene — it doesn’t matter if the vehicle catches on fire. It doesn’t matter. I’m there with him. If we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die together”, Wilson said.

Wilson represents nearly 40,000 homeless Veterans in the United States today. In fact, armed forces veteran face a 50% higher risk for being homeless than the rest of the population according to the US Department of veteran affairs. Many experts believe that this has a lot to do with the mental and sometimes physical trauma endured during duty And the lack of support overall the veterans coming back home from active duty. It’s ironic how kneeling during the national anthem causes such controversy in regards to respect for the troops, yet we are sending our troops home from active duty without any sort of help.