The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless estimates there are nearly 3,000 vets homeless in the state on any given day, including Veterans Day today.

This means that in the metro area, there are nearly 1,800 veterans roaming the streets, trying to get their lives back together. On any given night, at least 80 of them sleep under bridges, in cars or on concrete.

Even the Veterans Affairs Department admits things could be better for returning soldiers. The VA estimates as many as 131,000 veterans will be homeless on any given day and twice that number may be homeless at some point this year, according to coalition president John Parvensky.

In hopes of stemming some of those numbers in Colorado, the coalition this morning will announce the establishment of a new Homeless Veterans Housing Fund. The money will be used to help get homeless vets into housing quickly and help them access support services, including treatment for war-related trauma.

"A lot of vets come back with trauma issues," said Heather Beck, who runs the coalition's outreach teams that seek the homeless who refuse to come in from the cold. "The trauma doesn't go away if it's not addressed early."

Despite the fact that gay marriage advocates lost a heartbreaking vote in Maine last week, there was one individual whose story emerged from the election that has managed to not only go viral throughout the Internet, but has captured the hearts and minds of equality advocates. That man is Philip Spooner, and he's a World War II vet who talked publicly about what the idea of gay marriage and equal rights meant to him.

"A woman at my polling place asked me, 'Do you believe in equality for gay and lesbian people?'" Spooner said. "I asked her, 'What do you think our boys fought for at Omaha Beach?' I haven't seen so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sacrifice. For what? For freedom and equality. These are the values that give America a great nation, one worth dying for."

Spooner's comments get at the heart of what Veterans Day -- being celebrated today -- is all about. Yes, it's certainly about remembering fallen soldiers and those that served this country. But it's also about the promise of equality and freedom, values that are supposed to apply to everyone in this country, regardless of sexual orientation.

It's on that note that yesterday, the American Medical Association passed a resolution to become the latest professional organization calling for a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the discriminatory military policy that has to this date thrown out 13,000 soldiers from the U.S. military simply for being gay or lesbian.

Dr. Paul Wertsch, a Wisconsin doctor who wrote the resolution calling for a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," said he did so because the currently policy forces doctors to lie.

"When a gay or lesbian soldier comes and talks to their doctor, psychiatrist, anyone...if it's recorded in the record that the person is gay or lesbian, that's basis for discharge," Dr. Wertsch said. It forces a doctor to choose between being honest in the medical record, or hurting our country's national security by aiding the dismissal of well-qualified soldiers from the military.

This Veterans Day, more people support a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" than ever before. The wheels of overturning the policy through Congressional action, however, remain slow.

Letters to the editor are a great way to engage local media and raise awareness about our efforts to get rid of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” A particularly effective letter to the editor can get thousands of people talking about the issue and have effects well beyond the pages of the paper. The letters to the editor section is one of the most read parts of a newspaper!

On Dec. 26, I will officially be out of the Army. It has been eight years since I enlisted and I’m torn: Was it worth it?

The simple answer is yes. The more I dissect the question, the more I have no idea how to answer it. The Army has taught me more about myself than any job, schooling, or relationship that I’ve ever had.

So, what’s my problem then?

I knew nothing at the age of seventeen besides I wanted to join the Army Reserves. I thought of the Army as a starting point for the rest of my life. I wanted an adventure and the Army promised that. I wanted a career in the FBI.

My father and both my grandfathers had served and I wanted to be the first woman in the family to follow in their footsteps.

I was a virgin. I’d been drunk twice in my life. I grew up in Bethlehem, a suburb outside of Albany. I was a cheerleader and a shitty math student. I was supposed to go to a four-year college like my friends, work some bullshit job the rest of my life, have a few kids, grow old and die.

Sometimes I wish I chose the suburban version of The American Dream.