I share his story while wearing my Be the One T-shirt. Early on in my 20 years of service to homeless, addicted and incarcerated veterans, one of my first challenges was a homeless crack cocaine addict who stumbled into my office. He wore the look of tortured despair and told me he had recently been released from prison. He said he was alienated from his family and was alone in the world. Then, he told me that he didn't care if he lived or died. I told him I cared, and led him to our van and a journey to the Long Beach VA Medical Facility, where he was enrolled and began his break from addictive substances. Once that process was completed, I found him transitional living off the street, enrollment into our computer class and job search assistance. Choosing life over death seemed to agree with him. This 'Nam vet found a good job in health care, re-connected with family, and in time bought himself a car and even got a credit card. He was well on his way. It had been a while since I heard from him, but one day the phone rang. It was my good buddy, inviting me to attend his college graduation. He had come full circle because I chose to BE THE ONE, and still choose to, one vet at a time.