As aforementioned, the DFW region is home to approximately 386,358 veterans, making up roughly 1.8 percent of the national veteran population.The research produced a number of observations and conclusions regarding issues facing veterans and military families in the region. The following assessment attempts to answer the following research questions: What is the state of veterans in the DFW region? Where do needs exist among the DFW veteran population? How are the needs of veterans being met in the DFW region? What are the main efforts at meeting the needs of veterans? How does the coordination of existing services take place, and is there a collaborative structure in the region that guides investments, services, and the overall care?

2 This report summarizes research conducted by CNAS researchers between August 2015 and February 2016, using a mixed-methods approach that included qualitative research on regional trends quantitative research using data made public by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and other agencies a targeted survey of veterans in the region and discussion groups with participants representing more than 50 organizations that serve those veterans. The King Foundation and a collaborative of funders commissioned the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) to assess the needs of veterans in the region to assist in planning future philanthropic investment by the Foundation and its partners. This report discusses these issues and makes recommendations for public, private, and nonprofit action to address the issues facing the DFW region’s veteran community. Diverse challenges – access to VA services, economics, housing, transportation issues – face the region’s veterans and the various agencies, nonprofits, and support groups that serve them. However, significant numbers of them also live on the periphery of these urban centers, driven by housing costs and economic opportunity. Within the region, the veteran population is most concentrated in the core urban and suburban areas of Dallas and Fort Worth. Veterans comprise between 5.7 percent (in Dallas County) and 14.6 percent (in Hood County) of each county’s total population, compared with the national average of 6.7 percent. 1 Veterans of all generations reside in this region, including approximately 57,000 post-9/11 veterans. More than 1.6 million veterans call Texas home 386,358, or roughly one-fourth of all veterans statewide, live in the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) area.

Texas has a rich legacy of military service that continues today in its large and vibrant active-duty and veteran military community. Renewing the National Security Consensus.Enhancing DHS Oversight & Accountability.Constructing Regional Partnerships and Seizing Emerging Opportunities.

My friend Lars I mentioned above was Army 62B and was involved towards the end when the runway was blocked by the C-130. I thought the Marines (III MAF) had a monopoly on Khe Sanh. Since the 82nd was Army, I am embarrassed. We in the Air Force concluded (rightly) that anything that purposefully falls from the sky is bird-related. Bob corrects me and says Dennis was in the 82nd “bird poop” Airborne. Smart people with a well-developed sense of survival instinct. A few brave souls pointed at me or flipped me off. I came home in camo fatigues with a survival knife showing below the edge of my shirt. Indochina is like a stain you can never quite wash out of your soul-nor would you want to. Having a full time- job as Charon the boatman on the River Styx would not be my first choice of MOS.

He was never able to talk about what he went through and I don’t blame him. He punched out from pancreatic cancer several years ago while I was in the hospital. A good friend flew in and out several times in a dust off. That’s strange because he thinks Marines are just big galoots with nothing more than muscle between the ears. There are many who served– some who damn near didn’t make it back. Sometimes we fail to look around us and really see those who walk by.

Dennis franz vietnam service