Vietnam War veteran Stevenson L. Roy died broke and homeless, but Wednesday he received a funeral with full military honors in Portland, Ore., for his years of service to the country.
Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class Roy, buried in Willamette National Cemetery, was the 1,000th homeless veteran to be buried by Dignity Memorial. Operating in 35 cities, the organization partners with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, local medical examiners and funeral homes to ensure that veterans without friends or family are treated to the proper funeral service that they earned.
"It doesn't really matter what happened during their life," organization spokeswoman Lisa Marshall told The Huffington Post. "At some point, they were willing to give their life."
The organization, established in 2000, serves a role at a time an estimated 67,500 homeless veterans are at great risk for dying on the streets.
The nonprofit Community Solutions, which launched the 100,000 Homes Campaign, found that 27.3 percent of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness, physical illness, and substance abuse at the same time. They are also more than 11 percentage points more likely to develop life-threatening diseases than homeless people who are not veterans, according to the report released in November.
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