http://www.truthout.org/LifeAfterIraq.shtml
Returning Home Homeless
By Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t | Report
Thursday 21 February 2008
Former Hospital Corpsman Kevin Bartolata spent four years and eight months in the military. When he decided to leave, he found himself alone and with few options. He soon became hopeless and homeless, sleeping in a park in San Francisco. Through sheer persistence and help from veterans organizations, he was able to pull himself out of his desperate situation and find his way.
This is his story.
Kevin Bartolata was eighteen and had just graduated from high school in 2000. His father, his closest role model, advised him to enlist to give his life direction and to help prepare him for adulthood.
"If you can't figure out what to do after high school, join up. At least you'll come out with money to pay for college afterwards and then you can figure out whatever you want to do. You have to find yourself a good stepping stone," Bartolata's father told him.
