Vietnam veteran Lloyd Miller was on a train from Pensacola, Fla., headed to the River City Rescue Mission in Vicksburg while others popped fireworks on July 4.

“I like it here,” he said, adding he plans to be in town at least another month.

Miller, who is a Beckley, Va., native, sought out the mission to get off the street.

By the numbers

305,529,237: U.S. population (Jan. 1, 2009 estimate)

754,000: U.S. Veterans (2007 HUD estimate)

3,500,000: U.S. Homeless

300,000: U.S. Homeless Veterans (estimate)

2,938,618: Mississippi population (2008 estimate)

212,508: Mississippi Veterans 

1,624: Mississippi Homeless (2007 HUD estimate)

1,579: Mississippi Homeless Veterans

48,087: Warren County population

3,386: Warren County Veterans

76: Warren County Homeless (Point in time in Jan. 24, 2009)

7: Warren County Homeless Veterans (estimate)

23%: U.S. homeless population are veterans

33%: U.S. male homeless population are veterans

“I just messed up this month. I got everything I need. I just want to get off the street,” he said.

Miller, 67, has disability income. He said walking out of an unstable relationship brought him to the mission here.

He plans to move into a high rise home at St. Francis Towers, a former hotel in Monroe, La., in the next two months and is working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to achieve that goal.

Adrian Grice, executive director of the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board, said the VA, a federal agency, has many programs and grants to assist homeless veterans, many of which operate through VA medical centers.

Yet only 25 percent of homeless vets use VA Homeless Services nationwide, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Any given week, about seven U.S. veterans are homeless in Vicksburg. Brother Ernie Hall, assistant director of River City Rescue Mission, said the number increases by about 10 each year.

There’s no single explanation why.

Hall said he expects to see about 375 men go through the 3705 Washington St. mission this year, a sizable increase from 336 four years ago and more than half will be veterans.

If more homeless veterans sought housing, it’s not clear where they could stay. Statewide, there are 1,579 homeless vets and 60 available beds, according to NCHV. Hall said at least half of the 12 men living at the mission now are veterans.

“We clothe them, feed them and house them until they get on their feet,” he said.

Looking for help and a job, Daniel Duncan, a former U.S. Army Infantry soldier from Marshall, Texas, arrived July 3 after being homeless for about two years.

Duncan, 49, said he cannot get help from the VA because he served only eight months, and two years is required.

He depends on the Red Cross, United Way and Gateway Rescue Mission in Jackson.

On the other hand, Fredrick Owens of Brookhaven does qualify for benefits but said he has no way of getting to the VA for congestive heart failure treatment.

“I’ve been in and out of the hospital. Because of my heart, I have fluid on my body. So, when I stand up, my legs swell up,” he said.

Unable to work, the 45-year-old veteran said he cannot pay anyone to take him. He also is in the second month of a four-month drug and alcohol program at the mission.

Like Owens, most homeless vets are single men who lack health care and battle substance abuse. Some suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well, according to the NCHV.

Warren/Yazoo Mental Health Service is available for veterans fighting depression or psychological problems in Vicksburg.

The Vicksburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2572 helps homeless combat veterans by offering information on service benefits.

“We don’t write a check to an individual. That doesn’t help the problem,” said Post Commander Tom Tinney.

Hall addresses the need by encouraging the men to attend chapel twice a day and study life skills needed for them to be productive in society.

 “It is really about the Lord and his work. That’s their position getting out of the mindset of it being all about them,” said Hall, a Marine who has also been homeless.. “If God can change me, he can change anybody,” he said.

Hall has been the chaplain at the Warren County Jail since 2003 and a chaplain for the mission for the past month.

“Success is for those who want it,” he said.

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Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com