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As I walked into a local diner on a recent July morning, I encountered a trio of gentlemen in their 70s conversing about years gone by, expensive medical appointments, and the cost of a scrambled egg. One of the gentlemen was wearing a U.S. Army Veteran hat, and he reminded me of many of the battered but proud soldiers I have encountered in the Philadelphia VA who are often by themselves or homeless on the streets of cities in New Jersey.  I wondered how they were navigating the inflated economic situation in our state with the high cost of living, ridiculous medical bills and rent and mortgage payments that are among the highest in the nation. 

The answer is that they often aren’t. As a nation, a disproportionate 13% percent of our homeless population is made up of Veterans. In New Jersey, our veterans are decreasing in number at a rate of -2.4% per year, with less than half remaining by 2048. Suicide rates continue to increase as many veterans feel ineffective in life and a burden on others. In addition, the aging population is experiencing rising rates of disease and mortality in Vietnam- and Cold War-era populations who sacrificed despite the unpopular reception that they received at home.  

To address these needs, the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee was successful after 15 years in moving legislation forward on a state level that will assist disabled veterans with the high property taxes they face by increasing the deductions over the next four years to $2,500 by 2028. This is the first proposal of its kind to advance since last century and doesn’t apply to disabled veterans renting property, living in a community setting or those that were discharged in other than honorable circumstances. Other limitations include continued inflation and the fact that it is only a proposal, not a law. If we must wait another 20 years for revision and improvement to this policy or other supportive measures, most of our Vietnam era heroes may be gone. 

The Social Security benefits all Americans receive and heavily rely on in their golden years is an excellent example of a policy that considers Cost of Living Allowances, or COLAs, by the state to ensure equity. Conversely, Veterans’ Compensation COLA of 2024 adjusts the rates for Veterans in each state equally but not equitably. For instance, in New Jersey, the average monthly rent or mortgage payment is above $1,800; in North Dakota, it is around $800.  A disabled veteran gets the same compensation from the government in both locations with the current scale despite the drastic differences in COLA. This equates to a $1,000 difference monthly while only looking at housing expenses, which could easily result in a Veteran becoming unhoused or unable to support children or grandchildren in their pursuits. New Jersey legislators must push for a policy to adapt Veteran’s disability benefits to match the high tax rates and COLA. Opposition to increases in veteran disability compensation in New Jersey includes a segment of society that feels that the compensation deters the community from working later into life and potentially suffering stress and depression through inactivity. Until other veteran benefits programs like Vocational Rehabilitation are accessible and property tax reductions are enacted, disability compensation is the most feasible solution to avoid veteran poverty. Rep. Andy Kim of the 3rd District said, “We owe it to our veterans to find ways to fill in the gaps in their benefits and deliver the support they have earned,” to which I respectfully respond, “Deeds Not Words.” We should get more familiar with our local legislators when supporting veteran legislation, knowing the devasting outcomes of homelessness, mental health issues and worse that can develop through isolation and struggles at home. 

Another example of a New Jersey politician who seems to understand this concept is Assemblyman Brian Bergen, who delivered a package of bills for New Jersey veterans in 2021 to acknowledge the sacrifice of Veterans as they return home. Unfortunately, they appear to have received opposition based on political affiliations alone. These stagnated proposals include state tuition for qualifying veterans, business grants, proportional tax assistance, and relocation assistance for veterans interested in moving to our great state.  Ultimately, New Jersey needs to harness the strengths of our service member leaders to benefit our communities versus ostracizing them or forcing them to seek financial refuge elsewhere. 

The inability to bypass ideological differences in Trenton reminds me of a song my grandparents introduced about respecting each other called “The Living Years.”  In that song, Mike Rutherford (from Mike in the Mechanics) states, “Say it loud (say it loud), Say it clear (say it clear), You can listen as well as you hear, It’s too late (It’s too late), When we die (oh, when we die), To admit we don’t see eye to eye.” 

Now is our time to learn from this poignant lesson and recognize and support our nation’s heroes during their remaining living years despite our other differences. As American voters, we must learn how to support local legislators who look past their party lines and listen to our aging veteran’s needs before it’s too late. 

Ryan Holak, a veteran and a student in Baylor University’s masters in social work program, is a resident of Delran Township in Burlington County.

A 2-year-old boy died after he was left in a hot car in New York on Monday — hours after an 8-week-old girl met the same fate in New Jersey, marking the 11th and 12th hot car fatalities in the US this year, according to officials.

In the latest tragedy, 28-year-old father Avraham Chaitovsky left his infant daughter in a vehicle for “an extended period of time” in Lakewood Township amid a sweltering summer heat wave, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.

Officers responded to a report of a child in cardiac arrest near New Egypt Road around 1:45 p.m. Despite lifesaving efforts, the 8-week-old baby was declared dead on scene, according to police and prosecutors.

Chaitovsky was inside of the Kollel Cheshek Shlomo synagogue while his daughter was trapped in the hot car, News 12 New Jersey reported.

The father was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

He was taken to the Ocean County Jail and additional charges may be forthcoming, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Meanwhile, shortly before 7 p.m. the same day, officers in Monticello, New York responded to a 911 call of a child in cardiac arrest inside a vehicle located outside Sleepy Hollow Apartment Complex, police told News 12 Westchester.

First responders were not able to revive the 2-year-old boy, who was pronounced dead at the scene by the Sullivan County coroner. It’s not clear how long he was in the vehicle.

The Post has reached out to Monticello police for more information.

Temperatures topped 90 degrees in the tri-state area on Monday as blistering heat has suffocated most of the country.

Monday’s tragedies are the 11th and 12th confirmed deaths of children left in hot cars in the nation this year, according to national nonprofit Kids and Car Safety.

Last week, a 5-year-old twin died in Nebraska after his foster mom left him trapped in a vehicle for seven hours in 89-degree heat while she went to work at a nail salon, police said.

Earlier this month, a 2-year-old girl died after her 37-year-old father left her in the brutal Arizona heat for hours as he played video games. He was charged with murder.

A total of 29 children died from hot-car related deaths in 2023 and another 36 died in 2022, according to the organization. The average number of US child hot car deaths is 38 per year.

Kids and Car Safety Director Amber Rollins told The Post on Wednesday that a majority of hot car fatalities involve loving, caring parents who slip into “autopilot mode” that leads to the child being left behind in the car.

“It’s really the product of the right circumstances. These cases, almost all of them, are very much the same,” Rollins said. 

“The number one contributing factor is sleep deprivation, which is par for the course for parents of young children, combined with a change in the normal daily routine,” she continued. “A lot of these parents aren’t even used to having a child yet, and the first few months are brutal.”

Some safety tips the organization recommends to ensure the children are accounted for include getting into the habit of putting an item that’s necessary to a parent’s day — like a work laptop or wallet — in the backseat.

“The idea is that its training you of getting into the habit of opening the backdoor everytime you leave the vehicle,” Rollins said.

It’s also recommended that parents keep a “reminder item” like a large stuffed animal in their vehicles that “lives in the backseat of your car.” When the children are in the car, parents should put the item in the front as a visual cue to remind them their child is there.

Kids and Car Safety helped pass federal legislation as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which includes a mandate for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue federal safety regulations to the auto industry on technology that automakers must put in vehicles to prevent hot car deaths.

Rollins said safety standards were supposed to be submitted last fall, but they still haven’t issued it. They’ve repeatedly pushed back the deadline, with the agency announcing just last week they’d need until April 2025.

“Meanwhile, every week, children continue dying, families continue burying their children and it’s unacceptable,” she said.

Since 1990, at least 1,095 children have died in hot cars, about 88% of whom were 3 years old or younger, according to the organization.

A meteor streaked over the New York City skyline before disintegrating over nearby New Jersey, according to NASA.

William Cooke, the head of the space agency’s Meteoroid Environments Office, said the fireball was first sighted at an altitude of 51 miles above Manhattan at around 11:17 a.m. Tuesday.

The meteor passed over the southern part of Newark, N.J., before disintegrating 31 miles above the town of Mountainside, he said. No meteorites or other fragments of space debris reached the planet’s surface.

The space rock moved at a speed of about 41,000 mph and descended at a relatively steep angle of 44 degrees from vertical, Cooke said.

Its exact trajectory is uncertain, since reports are based only on eyewitness accounts and no camera or satellite data is currently available, he said.

As of Wednesday morning, there had been approximately 40 eyewitness reports filed on the American Meteor Society website, which the agency used to generate its estimates, Cooke said.

The fireball was not part of the Perseid meteor shower, and reports of loud booms and shaking could be explained by military aircraft in the vicinity around the time of its appearance, he said.

Cooke said the New York City area gets treated to a daylight fireball every year or two.

NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office said in a Facebook post that small rocks like the one that produced Tuesday’s fireball are only about a foot in diameter and can’t remain intact all the way to the ground.