V.A. Secretary Shinseki to speak at Tampa day after Fort Hood tragedy
November 6, 2009 at 8:23 am by Mitch Perry
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is scheduled to give the keynote address today at 12:30 p.m. during a daylong student veterans’ conference on the USF-Tampa campus.
No doubt he will reference the tragedy yesterday at Fort Hood, where, as of this morning, an Army psychiatrist (right) is suspected of killing 13 people and wounding 30 others in a shooting rampage. The suspect remains hospitalized and on a ventilator.
As of this morning, nobody quite knows for sure what set off Major Nidal Malik Hasan, other than reports that he absolutely did not want to go to Iraq, where he was scheduled to be deployed later this month.
Former Army General Shinseki’s appearance comes just a few days after he announced a plan to end homelessness among veterans in the next five years, which includes pledging $3.2 billion over the next year to address the problem.
His plan includes preventive measures, including support services for incarcerated veterans who are re-entering society; a national referral center that can link veterans to programs in their areas; and expansions in education, job training, health care and housing.
“In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless veterans off the streets,” Shinseki said. “Our five-year plan aims day after also at preventing them from ever ending up homeless.”
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