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Pa. veteran lives out of van, tries to be positive
The York Dispatch ^ | 1/11/2014 | JULIE ZAUZMER, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted on 01/11/2014 5:32:00 AM PST by Carriage Hill

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. — After a 30-year military career in which he earned three graduate degrees, rose to the rank of colonel, and served as an aide to Pentagon brass, Robert Freniere can guess what people might say when they learn he's unemployed and lives out of his van:

Why doesn't this guy get a job as a janitor?

Freniere answers his own question: "Well, I've tried that."

Freniere, 59, says that his plea for help, to a janitor he once praised when the man was mopping the floors of his Washington office, went unfulfilled. So have dozens of job applications, he says, the ones he has filled out six hours a day, day after day, on public library computers.

So Freniere, a man who braved multiple combat zones and was hailed as "a leading light" by an admiral, is now fighting a new battle: homelessness.

(Excerpt) Read more at yorkdispatch.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Military/Veterans; Society
KEYWORDS: economy; jobless; military
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Sad, but not atypical story, of one of 60,000 (DoVA estimate) of America's Vets.
1 posted on 01/11/2014 5:32:00 AM PST by Carriage Hill
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To: P.O.E.; lightman; thouworm

Need a PA List Ping.


2 posted on 01/11/2014 5:33:30 AM PST by Carriage Hill (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading.)
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To: carriage_hill

Sometimes it’s better to be unqualified than to be over qualified.


3 posted on 01/11/2014 5:35:00 AM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink)
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To: carriage_hill

Doesn’t a 30 career get you a military pension?
That and two advanced degrees?
Something is missing from the story.


4 posted on 01/11/2014 5:37:33 AM PST by svcw (Not 'hope and change' but 'dopes in chains')
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To: carriage_hill

30 yrs—when I served that translated to full retirement.He is living in his van— WHY? Either he has no bank account— or he is grandstanding.


5 posted on 01/11/2014 5:37:34 AM PST by StonyBurk (ring)
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To: carriage_hill

A 30 career soldier, retired at the rank of colonel, has a military pension. Estimated at approx $60K per year. What is missing from this story?


6 posted on 01/11/2014 5:39:45 AM PST by thegunmaker
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To: svcw

Yes he gets a pension and a pretty good one too


7 posted on 01/11/2014 5:41:16 AM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: thegunmaker

Sounds like there’s some medical issues involved, too.


8 posted on 01/11/2014 5:42:19 AM PST by Carriage Hill (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading.)
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To: svcw
Doesn’t a 30 career get you a military pension?

From the Article

His struggle to find a job after retiring from the Air Force collided with the end of his marriage nearly two years ago.

That will pretty much wipe out his retirement pay, courtesy from the old hag from Colorado....Sen. Pat Schroeder


9 posted on 01/11/2014 5:45:18 AM PST by darkwing104 (Forgive but don't forget)
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To: thegunmaker

My guess is a very bitter, bitter woman that is very highly pissed off and full of revenge.


10 posted on 01/11/2014 5:45:41 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: svcw

I read it 2x, and it seems that there’s “something missing” from the story.


11 posted on 01/11/2014 5:45:52 AM PST by Carriage Hill (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading.)
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To: StonyBurk

Something is missing from the story.


12 posted on 01/11/2014 5:47:13 AM PST by Carriage Hill (Peace is that brief glorious moment in history, when everybody stands around reloading.)
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To: R. Scott

I have a nursing degree, but due to a disability I can’t work in that field anymore. I have applied for jobs working behind a cash register, only to be told I’m overqualified. It’s frustrating to say the least.


13 posted on 01/11/2014 5:47:32 AM PST by k4gypsyrose
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To: carriage_hill

A 30-year veteran dos not get VA benefits?


14 posted on 01/11/2014 5:47:42 AM PST by oblomov
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To: svcw

Doesn’t he have to be older to start his pension checks?


15 posted on 01/11/2014 5:47:47 AM PST by MadelineZapeezda (Remember, this is an administration which will not profile terrorists, but profile patriots? /Newt)
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To: darkwing104

So his ex, receives part of his retirement, even if she had half, that would leave him with 30k a year.
Military wives receive part to half of the retirement because the military says the whole family sacrificed during the service time.


16 posted on 01/11/2014 5:48:22 AM PST by svcw (Not 'hope and change' but 'dopes in chains')
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To: svcw
Doesn’t a 30 career get you a military pension? That and two advanced degrees?

That's $40,000 and three advanced degrees.
A lot's missing.

17 posted on 01/11/2014 5:48:41 AM PST by stormhill
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To: carriage_hill

Not atypical?? How many of those other 59,999 veterans have a 30-year O6 pension check coming in every month? That is no chump change. There’s more to this story than is being told here.


18 posted on 01/11/2014 5:49:25 AM PST by Bob
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To: MadelineZapeezda

No. You receive it when you retire.


19 posted on 01/11/2014 5:49:31 AM PST by svcw (Not 'hope and change' but 'dopes in chains')
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To: carriage_hill

I think we have a few cherry picked highlights of this story. Got to be a lot more to this.


20 posted on 01/11/2014 5:50:06 AM PST by EandH Dad (sleeping giants wake up REALLY grumpy)
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