The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans [Hardcover]

Aaron Glantz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2009

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This exposé of the treatment meted out to American veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan is a breathtaking rebuke to government hypocrisy and an overdue contribution to gaining critical public awareness of this official neglect. Glantz (How America Lost Iraq), who covered the American occupation of Iraq, offers a thorough account of the plight U.S. vets face back home—from the understaffed Veterans Administration perversely geared to saving money at the expense of vets in dire need of help, to concomitant medical and social ills, including undiagnosed brain injuries and the too frequent perils of homelessness, crime and suicide. There is also grassroots resistance and mutual aid, including the eventual passage of the post 9/11 GI Bill of Rights in May 2008, fiercely opposed by the Bush administration and the Republican Congress (including John McCain). Glantz fleshes out his narrative with the voices and powerful stories of vets, their families and advocates, while helpfully including a host of resources and services for veterans. Glantz also places their experience in a longer, dismal history of government neglect, while backing up his assertion that the Bush administration has never been seriously interested in helping veterans with damning evidence. (Jan.)
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Review

"A breathtaking rebuke to government hypocrisy and an overdue contribution to gaining critical public awareness of this official neglect."--Publishers Weekly

"Aaron Glantz puts himself at the forefront of those who are bringing this new generation of veterans into public view."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Sharply drawn examples and evidence-based judgments render all three stories highly readable."--Choice

"Does what no professional journalist has done heretofore. . . . Powerfully compelling yet simply rendered."--Huffingtonpost.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (January 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520256123
• ISBN-13: 978-0520256125
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Every American should be required to read this book!!! February 12, 2009

By C. Bratten

Format:Hardcover

This is a very enlightening book. It is so sad but it also makes me very angry. Our soldiers are treated so terrible when they come home. No one should be treated this way, much less those that have served our country so bravely in such terrible situations!
EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO READ THIS BOOK!!! It makes me want to protest like we did during the Vietnam war. At least the country saw what was really going on in that war. Please read this book, please.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Here We Go Again! June 28, 2009

By Fred Tomasello Jr.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a Vietnam veteran and Yogi Barra fan, these wars are "deja vu all over again." Aaron Glantz is a true journalist, a man who tells the truth about war, all sides and all people. What we're fed on the network news, talk radio and local news are jingoistic quips and fear-mongering that compete for ratings and entertainment value. And from our politicians, we get illusion--now you see support for veterans, now you don't. Glantz's documentation and internet references are worth many times more than the cost of the book and his stories and conclusions are priceless. An essential read for any American.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The War Comes Home March 26, 2009

By Dallas Eggemeyer

Format:Hardcover

Excellent, Gripping and Informative discussion of the shocking indifferences and bureaucracies to obtaining benefits for our returning Veterans. I was so moved by the author's honest revealing of his own struggles after returning from the field of action. This is a must read if you or someone you know has returned from duty in the Middle East. This is a whole new arena of warfare and we need to address the issues raised in this book. This book offers documented real life examples of the physical and mental injuries many of these veterans face. And how they struggle to deal with them, while facing the bureauracy. Thank you Aaron Glantz for helping my son on this journey!