Thomas Garrett Jr. came home from the Gulf War to parades and celebration. Years later, after undergoing heart surgery, he was homeless.
“I became homeless after having heart surgery. So that changed everything about my dynamic in life,” Garrett said Saturday on “Fox News Live.”
Garrett’s story is being featured as part of Fox Corporation’s sixth annual “Make Camo Your Cause” campaign with U.S.VETS, a nationwide push ahead of Veterans Day to end veteran homelessness.
U.S.VETS is a national nonprofit that provides housing, food and career assistance to veterans in need. The organization says it assists more than 20,000 veterans and their families each year. It has served over 500,000 meals, provided 418,000 nights of shelter and placed 3,000 veterans into permanent housing to date.
Quandrea Patterson, executive director of U.S.VETS, said Garrett’s experience reflects a problem many veterans face when they leave the military.
“A lot of times when veterans are in service, they’re told, and they know exactly what to do because they’re mission-focused,” Patterson said. “And then during that transition from active service to civilian service or veteran status, a lot of the information, a lot of the things to expect are unknown.”
That uncertainty, Patterson said, can leave veterans exposed to homelessness.
For Garrett, U.S.VETS gave him a way to rebuild.
“U.S.VETS is a new starting point for veterans,” Garrett said. “It’s a square one to where you can build up your life the way the veteran themselves need it. It gives us good structure. It gives us a good routine to begin and to build from there.”
Patterson said honoring veterans can’t stop at a single day each year.
“Freedom isn’t free, and for the freedom that we’re experiencing, that, there is somebody out there volunteering to put their life on the line and to navigate the unknown,” Patterson said. “When they get out, we should wrap our arms around them to make sure that they know that that service was appreciated in more than just words, but in deed as well.”
Fox is the founding media sponsor of “Make Camo Your Cause,” which aims to raise awareness of veteran homelessness and drive support for U.S.VETS. Over the past five years, the campaign has generated significant donations to the organization. The public can take part by donating or shopping online through the campaign.
