you know, respect your elders. >> reporter: he took those values with him and kept them close even when depression kept him down. >> i would say maybe just drinking a little bit, trying to kill the pain. >> reporter: he says he is alive because of shelters like the new england center for homeless vets and right now he is feeling good. >> i feel like a good man. all i wanted to be, a good man. a good father. >> reporter: keeling says he is taking advantage of a lot of different programs intended to get him back on his feet. he says he feels at peace inside, so that a year from now he will be in a whole different place. >> people do the right thing. i love that he talked about be nice to the elderly. >> exactly. do the right thing. simple advice. >> be nice to ladies. >> there are better angels out there. a sad stat here -- any given night there are 107,000 homeless vets on the streets. they sacrifice their lives for this country and then come back and fall on hard times. >> that's a shameful statistic. >> very shameful. let's do what we can to help