Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki is scheduled to give the keynote address today at the USF-Tampa campus at 12:30 p.m.
No doubt he will reference in the tragedy yesterday at Fort Hood, where as of this morning, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 people and wounding 30 others in a shooting rampage, remains hospitalized and on a ventilator.
As of this morning, nobody quite knows for sure what off Major Nidal Malik Hasan, other than reports that he absolutely did not want to go to Iraq as he was scheduled to be deployed to later this month.
Meanwhile, back in Tampa, 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 reduce homelessness among veterans.
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."
This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2009.