War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans

by Aaron Glantz

The War Comes Home is the first book to systematically document the U.S. government's neglect of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Aaron Glantz, who reported extensively from Iraq during the first three years of this war and has been reporting on the plight of veterans ever since, levels a devastating indictment against the Bush administration for its bald neglect of soldiers and its disingenuous reneging on their benefits. Glantz interviewed more than one hundred recent war veterans, and here he intersperses their haunting first-person accounts with investigations into specific concerns, such as the scandal at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This timely book does more than provide us with a personal connection to those whose service has cost them so dearly. It compels us to confront how America treats its veterans and to consider what kind of nation deifies its soldiers and then casts them off as damaged goods.

Genres: Politics

284 pages, Paperback

First published December 16, 2008

About the author

Aaron Glantz produces journalism with impact. A two-time Peabody Award-winner and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Glantz’s work has sparked more than a dozen Congressional hearings, the signing of new laws, and criminal probes by the DEA, FBI, Pentagon and Federal Trade Commission. Because of his reporting, 500,000 fewer U.S. military veterans face long waits for disability compensation, while 100,000 fewer veterans are prescribed highly addictive narcotics. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America and the PBS NewsHour, where his work has been honored with an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and nominated for two national Emmy Awards. A senior reporter at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and a recent JSK Fellow at Stanford University, Glantz’s books include "Homewreckers: How a Gang of Wall Street Kingpins, Hedge Fund Magnates, Crooked Banks, and Vulture Capitalists Suckered Millions Out of Their Homes and Demolished the American Dream," "How America Lost Iraq," "The War Comes Home: Washington’s Battle Against America’s Veterans," and "Winter Solider Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations", which he
coauthored with Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Reviews

[Michael Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about a subject most Americans (especially our politicians ignore). The physical and mental toll on our soldiers who confront combat in war has been put on the back burner by a country where fewer than 1% of our population serves in the military. The resultant stress from the demands of war by fewer and fewer American citizens is a national disgrace. If we are going to send these young Americans to fight our wars we need to insure that they get the finest physical and mental care available. Maybe if our politicians had their children serving in the military this would change. I heartily recommend this book to everybody who deeply cares for our veterans.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

say it is amazing though I was aware of politicians treatment of Veteran's issues for a long time. It is an important book for all Americans to read. Perhaps some of those who don't already know will come to the realization that politicians are great at sending people to war but think they should come back healthy or "on their shields."

[Jackie Perri · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book doesn't make you anti-war i dont know what will.

I can sum it all up in a sentence: the capitalist American government doesn't give a shit about veterans or the human beings veterans are murdering overseas; all they care about is what is profitable and short-changing whoever has the least political pull in congress.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The news about Staff Sargent Robert Bales, the US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians and setting their bodies on fire, could have come right out of Glantz's The War Comes Home. Although Bales "snapped" while overseas, his story hits all the same notes: multiple deployments, undiagnosed/misdiagnosed mental health issues, heavy drinking immediately prior to the incident, family trouble, and past run-ins with the law stateside. As of Saturday evening, it is unclear if PTSD will become an issue in his case. However, given that past courts have not accepted PTSD as a mitigating factor, I wonder how/if it will be used-- especially if Bales' is tried in a military court as opposed to a civilian court. Hopefully, with the Vietnam generation and OIF/OEF veterans working to increase the visibility and decrease the stigma associated with PTSD, courts will consider PTSD as an acceptable mitigating factor. That said, it is certainly in the military's best interest to deny that Bales' has problems that stem from a "service related" event(s). Like so many other things we have read about this semester, if the military allows Bales to use PTSD as part of a plea, they implicitly acknowledge that the military is at fault. Sadly, I suspect that Bales will be painted as a "bad apple" or "lone wolf" or whatever other metaphor the military (and a less-than-critical press) chooses to use.

Another item that stood out to me is the study Glantz sites out of Harvard. According to researcher Linda Blimes, "almost all veterans tell the truth in their disability claims, with the VA ultimately approving nearly 90% of them" (qtd. 117). Yet, while I was looking for a link to the story about Bales, the AP suggested an interactive titled "Marine allegedly faked injuries to get freebies" (note, this opens a PDF). I find myself wondering about the origin of the lying vet myth. Was there ever a spate of fraud that has now created a legacy of mistrust? Or, is this just a legacy of the Progressive Era efforts to reduce the nation's obligation to veterans? I understand the reasons that the lying vet myth is politically expedient-- especially if the goal is to deny benefits-- but what made this "stick" in the American mind?

Finally, although I was critical of The Good Soldiers's David Finkel for obscuring his own politics, I think that Gantz may have swung too far in the other direction. I found portions of the text a little heavy handed and the personal note at the beginning and end of the book to be too much. I did not doubt the stories that he told because of it, but I found myself a little less willing to accept his critique as the entire truth. In part, this is because I believe that the men and women who work for the VA want to alleviate suffering. The focus on the veterans is powerful but the book may have been stronger had he explored the ground-level culture of a particular VA center or hospital. I can only assume, given the exodus at Walter Reed when it was turned over to private contractors, that VA employees feel equally frustrated (see p. 52-54). This is not to let individual workers at the VA off the hook, clearly there are major problems, but to suggest that it must be more complicated than apathy or cruelty. At times, I felt Gantz was too quick to indict the VA's individual employees.

[Noah Smock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading for the content and exposure to a large national problem. I found the writing itself light and not ideal for the longer format. Glantz set the stage poorly with an intro that seemed snippy without reason. Statements such as, "I should know--I was there," seem oddly confrontational. Also, his self-analysis as lead-in was weak. I felt he should have called attention to his sample size of one as simply emblematic of issues and he did not. His analysis lacked an application of critical thought, despite the fact that his research was fairly sound and extremely important. I was looking for more depth.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Very scary. I see we support the troops ribbons on the back of cars and after reading this book I think what a crock of shit. There is no one to blame about the state of health care for returning veterans but ourselves. We have politicians that go to war for bigus reasons and never give a thought to the mentally and physically wounded vets coming home. Read this book, call your congressmen and donate to the causes mentioned in the book. We must take care of our veterans!

[travelerblue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you a Vet? Do you know one? Do you care? READ this 200+ page book to see what is really going on with the VA and DoD in regard to the lack of care most Vets receive!!!
Loewen includes the contacts for several groups that help Vets.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't the best written book, but it is a story that absolutely needs to be told.