For Women Veterans, Battles Go On at Home

(CBS)  More than 212,000 female service members have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan - 11 percent of the total force. One hundred twenty have been killed in action and more than 600 wounded, but the losses don't end there. CBS News correspondent Russ Mitchell reports on the battles these female warriors face after they return home.

Angela Peacock is just 30 years old, a veteran of the Iraq war who was discharged from the Army for health reasons and became homeless.

"Why does it have to be so hard," she sobs, "to just have a home and to just have a normal life?"

Peacock says she was living "from couch to couch" and "cleaning people's houses so I could stay with them."

"It's disgusting," said Paul Rieckhoff, head of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association. "It's a national disgrace that these heroic people are coming home and ending up homeless."

Rieckhoff's organization issued a report that says homelessness among young returning female fighters is on the rise.

The report, "Women Warriors," says female veterans earn on average $10,000 a year less in civilian jobs than male vets, making it harder to afford a home. And less than 5 percent of the homeless shelters run by the Veterans Affairs Department offer women separate housing from men.

"There are a variety of reasons why someone can end up homeless. A core factor many of them face is untreated mental health injuries like post traumatic stress disorder," Rieckhoff said.

Post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD was the reason Peacock was sent home from Iraq .She had spent her time in Baghdad driving in unarmored trucks and fearing roadside bombs.

"You don't ever know is today going to be the day," Peacock said. "A lot of us wrote letters home like, 'If I die give this to my mom.'"

Her downward spiral accelerated when she returned from Iraq She became addicted to prescription drugs. Her husband left her, making her homeless. She found it hard to readjust to life back in St Louis.

"War does something to you where it just twists everything," Peacock said. "I don't look the same, I don't act the same, I don't have the same mannerisms."

"Almost half the women who we see today that are homeless are under 35," said Peter Dougherty, director of the homeless program at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The VA says on any given night there are an estimated 6,500 homeless female vets. That's double the number a decade ago.

Angela Peacock now rents a house and has new support: GI Joe - a companion dog provided by the VA to help her cope with the PTSD when she's in public places.

"I have my days that are hard to get out of bed, and if fireworks or something goes off I'm just like done for the day," Peacock said. "But it's much better than it was. Much better."

For its part, the VA recently announced a five-year plan to wipe out homelessness among all veterans - male and female.

[gwen1955]

Hi, I usually do not blog but I have something I want to say. I want to know what the veterans have to say about women veterans who have suffered for many years with PTSD and Major Depression from MST. I am a vietnam era veteran who for 35 years or more suffered with alcoholism and drug abuse/use for many years. Several years ago, I was having severe anxiety attacks and bouts of anger. I went to the VA for help after my brother suggested that I needed help. I did not know what was happening to me because I could never get a job and keep it for long and I developed all sorts of physical and mental issues and they developed from sexual traumas and kidnap and physical assault that I suffered. I am still suffering tremendously from these traumas and people who have been injured while in the military have a right to put in a claim if it is affecting their ability to earn a living. I believe you should pursue your claim and pursue it vigorously don't give up.

[LiveFree603]

I can totally relate to her situation. Allthough I am not homeless yet I have been and may be again. I am so poor, I don't have a steady job. I don't ask for any assistance because I am proud and all people do is talk about how everyone poor is looking for a handout and don't want to work. I would shovel and have shoveled cow manure. And I served 6 years in the Marines. All the guys I served with, I reconected with them on facebook. They all have great jobs. Me, I unfortunately believed this Man, my husband, who was a Marine and said he would take care of me and wanted kids and blah blah blah. So I gave up my career. Had kids. I found out that some of the "mountains" he was off climbing were of the double-breasted variety in bed not in any desert. So I divorced. It's been 10 years. My kids are grown, off on their own but no one gives a **** about me. I gave up my career, now I have nothing. I live in a one room run down shack in the woods, don't have a decent car to drive and there is no public transportaion. At one point I was living in my car until a person I was doing landscaping for hooked me up with this place with no indoor plumbing and an outhouse. It's all I can afford, boo hoo, poor me right? I was an aircraft mechanic, Sgt. and now I have to take a **** outside in the cold. And yes, even though I did'nt serve in a war I have a serious **** of depression. And yes, alot of it has to do with being in the Military, rape being one of the things so you ******** who think you are so great and know it all, big educated ********, screw you! Walk a mile in my shoes! And I don't use drugs or alcohol. The V.A. put me on Paxil and I stopped that crap after 2 years because it did me no good and I was tired all the time and gained weight and got even more depressed. All I have to say is I am proud to have been a Marine and served my country and really, thats all I have. I am proud of all who had the guts to serve. Thank you to all the Veterans and current Soldiers serving. God Bless You. And good luck in your future. ~ Semper FI!

[book_of_wally]

Big deal homeslessness is rising for everyone else too. Since they were in the military, I am told they all voted for republicans and caused our economic disaster. Well they can come home and enjoy it now too.

[fuji79]

A lot of people have PTSD and continue to function, live full lives, raise children and carry on with life. PTSD IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO WHINE, BEG OR FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF AND/OR TRY TO MAKE OTHERS FEELS SORRY FOR YOU. What some people also missed was that her husband left her which supposedly led to her being homeless and she didn't 'look the same, act the same or behave the same'. Well, well, well ... you ever hear of counseling? Getting a job? Of course not. That would be asking to much of one of our alleged "Heroes". I am a disabled Veteran who has a college education, WORKED for a living aqnd has PTSD ... I was never unemployed, homeless or dependent upon the kindness of others for a place to sleep. I raised my child and sent that same child to college without student loans.PLEASE ... today's veterans need to get a grip on reality and get a life. Go talk to other veterans with the same diagnosis or far worse medical issues and ask them how they manage without the government taking care of them ... they will tell you to stand up, stop whining and get a job. As for all you non-military types, stop coddling and face some realities as well, not all veterans are veterans and not all veterans need coddling and sympathy. The truth never hurt anyone and often will set you and them free ...

[JustGunz]

amazing statements from a Vet. I waive the bull$hit flag on you cause there is no person who has served that would look down on those that serve, Unless of course you got an OTH. I have spent allot of time with veterans with PTSD from wars ranging from WW2, to OIF/OEF, and all with PTSD. There is one common thread, They all view those that serve, no matter thier diagnosis, ot lack their of, as heroes for their service. Tell ya what Fuji Boy, you don't like my country, Find A Better One! If you ever served with honor, you would never look down on those that do. Dont be a punk just because you hate your life. Be a man and look out for someone other than youself.

[Tanji1221]

I agree totally. My father is a Vet and he is suffering physically right now with a rash all over his body and he is being denied by the VA even though he knows he was in the area of agent orange but they need paperwork stating this. Several people, who don't even know my Dad, have told my father, "it's Agent Orange, right? Your were in the war?" I don't understand why it is so difficult to determine for the doctors or government. He left the day I was born and I didn't meet him until I was 18 months old. Now we want to talk about someones mental health?????? What is wrong today????? His well being is being compromised by people who signed up willingly and I have to deal with a relationship like I have with my father because he was forced to go over there? Have you ever sat down an listened to stories?? My Dad does not ever mention them but I worked for our government and heard stories, read an interview from my Dad when he came back and worked for RE&P or CSX for 30 years about when he was over there and coming home and didn't think they would make it. He was drafted has many physical scars not to mention the same mental ones as "women" and men who served. I am a single mom of a vet who is suffering right now and he gets no special treatment. He has been denied, and I believe he has done nothing to bring on any kind of sickness like he has now after being back here for so many years and working to provide for his family. We all have issues today, it's not easy. I have refinanced my house and now it's not worth what I paid for it 15 years ago and I am a realtor that started out in the business when it started the downslide. I didn't make a million, day late and a dollar short but I have paid BC/BS for my own insurance to cover me and my 2 kids after divorce and working for a company that didn't provide it prior to be self employed as a realtor, now I have a $7,500 deductable EACH. How do you think that helps me. My Son has worked as a volunteer in our community for 7 years and cant get a paid firemans job because they are all given to vets. Now I am thankful to our vets but dont ask for more than you deserve because my family is suffering right now and I see the people around our country that are suffering because of our current state. I know how much my relationship suffered because my Dad was not here and how much he gave up for this country. I know how hard I have worked to provide my children with a "quality life". I totally agree with you, suck it up like the rest of us and work like we all do. I'm tired of the bull here and the handouts. I never got anything and my kids won't either because we are too busy giving it away. My Dad can tell them stories that they never imagined. He sewed his own arm up, scar to this day, scary to think my own children will have to do that volunteering in our own community because we cant afford to pay our deductable.

[JustGunz]

I applaud CBS for making things like this known. But I frown at the idea that most people just sit here and talk about it. I am a veteran, and I am tired of all the empty promises. I am sick and tired of lip service support by those that say they really care about our troops. When I was dealing with alcoholism, hunger, homelessness, nightmares, and suicidal thoughts, there was a total of 1 person that cared enough to help me out of that. It was me. So I decided that it was time for me to do something about it. I founded Befriend A Veteran.com, and outlined a way that you can all help SO stop sitting here and complaining about the way it is, and do something to fix it!

[ArmyJen79]

The article leaves a lot to be desired; but it does not infer that Ms. Peacock was injured, a plausible excuse for becoming addicted to pain meds, which is what ultimately lead to her homelessness...not her service in Iraq. She (or the media) is negating her personal culpability and using the war as an excuse.

Thousands of returning vets, to include myself, come home, separate from the military, and face their issues without becoming a statistic. I'm trying not to be insensitive to her issues; however, I have trouble relating to an all volunteer service complaining and not dealing with what they signed up for...particularly in this case, when she's not disabled (physically) and she's living with the consequences of her decisions. The Navy has a saying, "Choose your rate, choose your fate." Perhaps she should have made an informed decision and perhaps she should have taken some personal responsibility; she could have sought help- she could have changed her situation.


(Army, 8 yrs: Kuwait, Iraq, and the Pentagon on 9-11)

[thesevenveils]

Viet Vets faced the same problems and more, lack of public support for one, and had NO support group. After they returned from Viet Nam the warriors were forgotten, and if they were broken no body cared.

This is still happening today and this soldier is testifying to this.

[rwsmith29456]

There used to be a saying, "Don't forget, hire the Vet".

[dbtmellis]

There still is...here in Connecicut all DOL envelopes say "Hire the Vet" on them

[dbtmellis]

by traveler_rob February 21, 2010 10:58 PM EST

who you refering to?

[dbtmellis]

I also want to add the every time the economy goes sour, the enlistment rate soars. During this time, the people who "want" to serve vs those who join for soley the pay and bennies come out. At least in the Marines, those who are there for just P&B are the ones who normally cant hack it.