Manchester – With the television cameras focused elsewhere in the city, Democratic presidential contender Dennis Kucinich spent a quiet hour yesterday morning listening to residents' stories and concerns at Liberty House, a shelter for homeless veterans.

"I'm here today to express my appreciation," Kucinich told the half-dozen men who sat in the cozy living room. "The truth is every day should be Veterans Day."

Kucinich, a Democratic congressman from Ohio, shared his own family's service record with the veterans: His father served in World War II, one brother served and lost friends in Vietnam, and another brother joined the Marine Corps, he told them. ("Semper fi," one man murmured reverently.)

A heart murmur kept him from serving, Kucinich said.

And then he told them about his job as a copy boy at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, where one of his duties was to pick up the photos of servicemen, killed in action in Vietnam, from their grieving families. The experience reinforced the values of service and sacrifice, he said.

One of his gravest concerns about the bellicose rhetoric about Iran, Kucinich said, is the detrimental effect military action there could have on American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. "When we talk about Veterans Day, we've got to remember our responsibilities to those in the field," he said.

Bill Zarakotas, a member of the Liberty House staff, told Kucinich there are an estimated 200 homeless veterans in Manchester alone, and 400 statewide. "Those are the guys we know of, not the guys who are in the woods and won't come out."

The shelter was a private home donated to the Veterans of Foreign Wars by the family of a serviceman killed in World War II. The VFW now leases the West Baker Street home for $1 a year to the nonprofit Liberty House, which has a capacity of 10 residents and serves as a drop-in center for many more.

But Zarakotas told Kucinich that federal funding for Liberty House, a $50,000 grant from Housing and Urban Development, is due to run out Dec. 31 and future funding is uncertain. "Fifty thousand dollars is equal to about 15 minutes of what we spend in Iraq," Zarakotas said.

Kucinich asked his national campaign manager, Mike Klein, a West Point graduate and Army combat veteran, to look into the Liberty House funding. "Let's see if we can do something about that," he said.

James McDuffee, a Vietnam-era Army veteran, asked whether Kucinich thinks it's a state or federal responsibility to take care of veterans after they're home.

"Absolutely federal, no question about it," Kucinich said. "It's a simple equation. You serve your nation, your nation should serve you."

Later, Kucinich told the New Hampshire Sunday News he will look into the funding issue. "These men fought for us. We've got to fight for them," he said. "This is my family."

Kucinich, who last week won an on-line "pulse poll" conducted by Democracy for America, talked with the veterans about his vote against authorizing the war in Iraq, and stressed that as President, he would engage in diplomacy with the leaders of enemy nations before military action. But, he assured them, he "wouldn't hesitate" from taking such action if the country truly was at risk.

After the visit, Robert Piatt, a US Navy veteran of the Vietnam war, called Kucinich a "sensitive person." But, he said, "I'm not in full agreement with the pullout policy."

Piatt said he doesn't believe negotiation will work with some of America's enemies. "The jihadists aren't going to talk," he said.

In the next President, Piatt said, "I'm looking for a man who has an understanding that there is a time when unfortunately force does have to be used...when those with wicked intent have to be eliminated."

Judy Zarakotas, the case manager at Liberty House, said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., is the only other presidential candidate who has visited the veterans shelter.

"The other ones all wanted big numbers so they could get press coverage," said her husband, Bill. "We're not a big numbers place."