Betrayed Valor: A Veteran’s Story of Service, Sacrifice & Systemic Neglect

by Sammie Lee Young

65 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2025

Reviews

[Military Writers Society of America (MWSA)]

MWSA Review

Dr. Sammie Young begins his memoir with a summary of his life in Mississippi before he joined the Navy and his Naval career. I wish he’d written more about both topics. The rest of the book is about the challenges he faced after his discharge from the Navy. The author doesn’t describe the accident at sea that caused him to be discharged with a service-connected disability or the disability itself.
Dr. Young was surprised by the lack of support to help him with his transition to civilian life. He was unemployed for a year before finding what he thought was his dream job at the VA. Things went well in the beginning and he was promoted several times.

The rest of the memoir highlights the author’s struggle with discriminatory treatment and the failure of the bureaucracy to address such mistreatment. He tried his best to keep a low profile so he could continue to do the work he loved, but he continued to be targeted. When his request for accommodation during Covid was denied, he realized his life depended on fighting back.

This book is inspirational for those who find themselves mistreated at work and need the motivation to stand up for themselves. One of my favorite parts of the book is the recommendations Dr. Young makes in the last chapter to address some of the failures of the systems designed to protect people who have been mistreated. One of the reforms he suggests is the creation of a Veterans Claims Surge Corps, a temporary, trained workforce whose only job is to clear the backlog of claims. I worked for a year on such a team back in the early 1980s with the Board for Correction of Naval Records. We eliminated a three-year backlog in claims related to military discharges.

I admire Dr. Young’s courage in writing about his experiences to inspire others to address similar challenges. I hope he continues to advocate for the reforms he suggests.

Review by Eva Nevarez St John

[Fifi O’Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful book and it was wonderful to have met the author as well. a true story about resilience in the face of extreme hardship, but persevering for the sake of faith and the desire of truth and integrity. a fast read and a very rewarding one.