Murder of Former Marine Sparks Anxiety Among the Homeless

By ERICK GALINDO

MIAMI — Lured by sunshine and balmy seas, Todd Hill came to Miami from his native Oregon three years ago looking for a fresh start.

After battling homelessness for 10 years, Hill, 41, a decorated Marine who fought in the first Gulf War, found an apartment and a job as a security guard. But his newfound stability did not last. Eight months after receiving a promotion, he was back on the streets. And on Nov. 26, on the bench he had come to call home, he was beaten severely with a tire iron, and pronounced dead at the hospital.

Hill lived his last moments surrounded by junkies sleeping on used garbage bags, in the shadow of the condominiums he’d helped build as a homeless laborer.

“Todd didn’t deserve to die like that,” said former Marine Samuel Hall, 62, who lived on the streets with Hill. “It was just senseless. He was homeless, but he always was willing to help others out.”

Hill was one of two homeless veterans recently beaten to death here. Ernest Holman, 67, a Vietnam veteran, was killed two weeks after Hill. No arrests have been made in his death. Secrecy Singleton, 29, also homeless, was charged in Hill’s murder.

“Todd didn’t deserve to die like that,” said former Marine Samuel Hall, 62, who lived on the streets with Hill. “It was just senseless. He was homeless, but he always was willing to help others out.”

Hill was one of two homeless veterans recently beaten to death here. Ernest Holman, 67, a Vietnam veteran, was killed two weeks after Hill. No arrests have been made in his death. Secrecy Singleton, 29, also homeless, was charged in Hill’s murder.

The killings have heightened concern among the more than 250 homeless veterans in Miami-Dade, representatives for the local Veteran Affairs office said, and prompted a demonstration by dozens of homeless veterans in downtown Miami on New Year’s Eve.

Charles Buford, founder of VetsUnited.org, which is dedicated to feeding and rehabilitating homeless veterans, led the protesters in their demand for more federal money for homeless programs and shelters. There are an estimated 200,000 homeless veterans around the country, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. At least 400 are new veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That number is expected to grow as the economy worsens, the wars in the Middle East continue and more veterans come home struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, advocates for the homeless say.

The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit think tank specializing in government policy, estimates that nearly 300,000 veterans currently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.

Post-traumatic stress disorder often increases occurrences of drinking and drug use, as veterans attempt to self-medicate, behavior that can lead to job loss or broken relationships and sometimes homelessness.

“That’s the one thing that no one is talking about,” said Sam Feldman, an Army veteran and vice president of the Miami chapter of Veterans for Peace. “After Vietnam, the number of homeless vets went up so high. Now with the economy and the wars, those numbers are going to go up sky high.”

“It’s hard out there,” Feldman added. “It’s hard for everyone, but the stress of war multiplies with the stress of everyday life.”

John Burton, an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam and is now homeless, said it often takes years for veterans to wind up on the streets. He said the hardest hit veteran is often the one who seems to be making it at first but then falls on hard times.

“You can have a family and an income and even a place to stay, and then the building you live in gets foreclosed on and you lose everything,” Burton said. “It’s tough, and then you go and drink a beer and then another beer and then maybe smoke a little weed. And there is very little outreach done because the general public does not understand or is far removed from the problem.”

Hill served as a sniper in the Marine Corps from 1986 to 1991. While he was on duty, his newborn son died. The profound loss he felt led to depression, an illness that scarred Hill for the rest of his life, his friends said.

Like many combat veterans, Hill did not like to talk about his mental health problems or his experience during the first Gulf War, said Jim Lineweaver, who worked with Hill as a security guard. Friends described Hill as friendly and good-natured, yet it was clear he was struggling with his illness, Lineweaver added. “I tried to get him to go and get assistance, but he was always hesitant at being treated,” he said.

Instead, Hill started drinking.

“He went from getting a promotion and being at the top of his game to the very bottom,” Lineweaver said. “He fought a battle with alcoholism that negatively affected his performance, and eight months later came a downhill slide.”

Hill slept on a park bench with a view of the Miami River. Other homeless people slept nearby. During the day, he often sought work at a construction site as a day laborer.

Buford, who runs the American Legion Post 29, where veterans and others in need seek help, said the country should do more to assist veterans on the streets. One reason homeless veterans often don’t reach out for help is that they don’t want to talk to civilians about their problems, he said.

“Veterans will not talk to non-vets,” Buford said. “Just the other day someone asked me what a badge I was wearing meant and I just ignored him. He didn’t want to hear me say, ‘It means killer!’”

Buford’s group helped locate Hill’s family in Utah after his death. Hill was buried Jan. 7 in the cemetery at Veterans Memorial Park in Riverton, Utah. The American Legion Post 29 is also asking for donations to help bury Holman, since no family has come forward. The government has provided $250, which Buford said is not enough for a proper burial.

“We want to have the biggest funeral ever for a vet to help draw attention to the plight of the homeless vets,” he said. “We need everyone’s help. We need help just to help the homeless.”

Help may soon be harder to come by at Post 29. Buford’s group, which is running short of money, asked if it could defer paying rent on its building at 6445 NE Seventh Ave. But Buford said he was instead handed a rent-increase notice giving him 10 days to reply. If the group is forced to shut its office, it will be unable to continue providing groceries for the 900 households it serves each month.

“We can’t pay,” Buford said. “We need donations, or else we’re going to be homeless.”

As for the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans winding up on the street, homeless advocates worry that this new generation of combat veterans will be ill-prepared to cope with the hardships.

“For us it’s over,” Feldman said. “We’re old. We’ve survived it, but I feel for the new vets.”