02/27/2026
Right now, Flanders Fields is supporting three Vietnam Veterans in Memphis — all with histories of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration.
All of them on the right path today because someone refused to give up on them.
One of them just graduated Veterans Court. To our knowledge, he’s the oldest person to ever complete the program. He’s been clean for nearly 20 months - the longest stretch of sobriety he’s had since he came home from Vietnam.
He just moved into his own place for the first time since leaving the Marine Corps. He still needs furniture. A bed. A couch. Basic things most of us take for granted.
Another has a family home he can return to - but it sat vacant for years and was destroyed by a hoarder. It needs a full cleanout, mold remediation, a new roof, updated plumbing, and updated electrical. Several thousand dollars stand between this man and having a home again.
Here’s the reality behind the scenes: We raised $3,800 last month. That’s the lowest single month we’ve had in recent memory. And we are running out of runway.
I need you to understand what’s at stake - there is no faster way to send a veteran in recovery into relapse than to suddenly pull the floor out from under them. Homelessness doesn’t just undo progress. It can end lives.
These men didn’t ask to come home broken. They didn’t ask for the addiction that followed the trauma. They didn’t ask for the decades of struggle. But they asked for a chance - and Flanders Fields said yes.
We need your help to keep that promise.
If you’ve ever said “I support veterans” - this is what that looks like in practice. It’s not a bumper sticker. It’s a vehicle for Mr. Riley. It’s furniture for a Marine who just got his first apartment in decades. It’s a roof over a man’s head who earned it fifty years ago in a jungle on the other side of the world.
Donate at FlandersFields.org/donate
Every dollar goes directly to veterans in crisis. No fluff. No bureaucracy. Just boots on the ground, doing the work.
These men are counting on us. Don’t let them down.
“In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row…”
~ Lt. Col. John McCrae, 1915
