Still Fighting a War : Veterans: ‘Stand-down’ is designed to give homeless ex-servicemen food, clothing and comprehensive services to help them get back on their feet.

Roger Klein sipped his coffee and surveyed the hundreds of homeless veterans milling about outside the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium early Friday, waiting for the doors to open.

“You see everybody out here, (messed) up, dirty, unkempt, strung out on one thing or another,” Klein muttered, slowly shaking his head. “I think your average Vietnam vet is a lost cause. Dead weight.”

“The whole Vietnam War was a joke,” Klein added bitterly. “This is the end result. And I’m one of them.”

Klein, a well-dressed but homeless Marine Corps veteran who served in the vicious battles at Khe Sanh, would soon disappear into the crowd attending Los Angeles’ first “stand-down operation” to help the area’s homeless veterans.

The effort, called “Westside Stand-Down 1991,” is named after a military “stand-down,” in which a combat unit returns to safety for rest and regrouping for future battles. For the next two days, 200 veterans used to fighting for survival on city streets will enjoy cots and blankets, three square meals a day and the comprehensive services they will need to try and get back on their feet.

The stand-down is being spearheaded by the Vietnam Veterans of America’s West Los Angeles chapter, with help from veterans groups, homeless organizations and government agencies.

Veterans will receive haircuts, food, clothing, job counseling, medical help and the photo IDs necessary to get critical government benefits. There is even a chaplain, ready to listen as vets unburden their souls.

And since pending legal warrants often scare homeless veterans away from society, a judge, prosecutor and defense attorney will work out plea bargains in a Santa Monica Municipal Court.

Some activists said Friday that while the stand-down is appreciated, it is too little, too late for as many as 60,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles County who have suffered for years with little help from the federal government.

For instance, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ West Los Angeles Medical Center should be doing much more to help veterans, said John Keaveny, a Vietnam Veterans of America local official who also works at the VA center. It should allow homeless veterans into “numerous” unused buildings on the complex, build an Old Soldiers home on the premises, and provide much-needed long-term care for veterans who are alcohol and drug abusers, Keaveny said.

“If the VA was fulfilling their mandate, we wouldn’t need to be doing this stand-down,” Keaveny told a top VA official, after a news conference held to kick off the event.

“There are many, many different programs,” some within the government, some private, depending on the needs of the individual,” retorted the VA official, Betsy Hardie, who runs the VA center’s 300-bed temporary shelter for veterans undergoing psychiatric care. The VA is coordinating medical and psychiatric services for the event.

By lunchtime, Klein, the ex-Marine, was inside and waiting in a long line for salad, as an amateur vocalist belted out patriotic songs on a nearby stage. Standing behind him was Albert Jones, 53, hunched over, his hands shaking as he ate a bowlful of beef stew.

“It’s been a long time,” said Jones, a Navy man in Korea and Vietnam. He said it was his first meal in two weeks.

Some veterans were less enthusiastic. Outside the auditorium, Robert Watts, 41, played with his 18-month-old daughter Cherry while waiting to get in.

“After 20 years, it’s standing in just another line,” he shrugged. “But I need housing, and she needs some shoes.”

“This is the first help I’ve ever got,” said Watts, a Navy corpsman. “They still want to sweep us under the rug.”

Others, like Mike Egan and his pregnant wife, Chezzie, were more grateful.

Egan, a Marine explosives expert who fought battles at Hamburger Hill and Monkey Mountain north of Saigon, said he has found life on the streets just as traumatic.

“We’ve contacted every organization around here and got no assistance,” he said. “But this will do a lot of good. It’ll help us get back on track.”