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Aaron Glantz

The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans 1st Edition

by Aaron Glantz (Author)

5.0 15 ratings

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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.

ISBN-10

0520256123
ISBN-13

978-0520256125
Edition

1st
Publisher

University of California Press
Publication date

January 15, 2009
Language

English
Dimensions

6 x 1 x 9 inches
Print length

288 pages
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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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Manages superbly to relate the stories of wounded individuals, describe the political and institutional issues that have led to the neglect of returnees’ problems, and suggest resources for veterans and their families.” (Library Journal 2011-07-15)

“A breathtaking rebuke to government hypocrisy and an overdue contribution to gaining critical public awareness of this official neglect.” (Publishers Weekly 2008-10-10)

“Aaron Glantz puts himself at the forefront of those who are bringing this new generation of veterans into public view.” (San Francisco Chronicle 2009-01-23)

“Sharply drawn examples and evidence-based judgments render all three stories highly readable.” (Choice 2010-02-01)

“Does what no professional journalist has done heretofore. . . . Powerfully compelling yet simply rendered.” (Huffingtonpost.com 2009-02-22)

From the Inside Flap

"One of the many scandals of the war in Iraq is how the administration has betrayed our returning servicemen. I'm grateful that the facts surrounding these tragedies are finally being exposed."—Paul Haggis, Academy-Award-winning director of Crash and In the Valley of Elah, screenwriter of Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima

"A must-read for those who claim to support our troops."—Robert G. Gard, Lt. General, U.S. Army (ret.)

“The treatment by the Bush Administration of America's returning veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is one of the saddest chapters in American history. This story is painfully documented by Aaron Glantz. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to make the phrase, 'Support the Troops,' more than a slogan."—Former US Senator Max Cleland

"A fitting tribute to what these men and women fought and risked their lives and well-being for."—Gerald Nicosia, author of Home to War

"This superbly documented and eloquent book is a clarion call for honesty, compassion, outrage, and an end to the lies that cause so much suffering in far-off countries and in our own nation."—Norman Solomon, author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death

"Aaron Glantz draws on his eyewitness experiences of reporting in Iraq to bring the courage and the suffering of our troops into vivid relief. The War Comes Home exposes how physical and mental injuries plague our returning servicemen and what we can do about it."—Linda Bilmes, coauthor of The Three Trillion Dollar War

"Weep, America, cringe, America. We talk a good game about honoring all those who go into harm's way for our sake and caring for those who get physically and psychologically broken, but do we go beyond fine words and a few gold-plated flagship medical facilities? Are we walking the walk? Are we getting it right? Aaron Glantz is in our face on the military treatment facilities, the VA, and civilian society at large."—Jonathan Shay, MD, PhD, author of Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in America. MacArthur Fellow

"Aaron Glantz reports on the human cost of war, what it does physically and emotionally to those young men and women who carry out industrial slaughter. He rips apart the myths we tell ourselves about war and illustrates, in painful detail, the dark psychological holes that those who have been through war's trauma endure and will always endure. He reminds us that the essence of war is not glory, heroism, and honor but death."—Chris Hedges, former New York Times foreign correspondent, author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

"We should all be reading people like Greg Palast and Aaron Glantz."—Al Kennedy, The Guardian (UK)

About the Author

Aaron Glantz, an independent journalist whose work has appeared in The Nation and The Progressive and on Democracy Now!, is the author of How America Lost Iraq.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of California Press; 1st edition (January 15, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0520256123
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0520256125
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,127,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #11,826 in Sociology (Books)
- #28,345 in Political Science (Books)

Customer Reviews:
5.0 15 ratings

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Aaron Glantz

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Aaron Glantz produces public service journalism with impact. His work has sparked more than a dozen Congressional hearings, numerous laws, and criminal probes by the DEA, FBI, Pentagon and Federal Trade Commission. A two-time Peabody Award-winner, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, multiple Emmy nominee, and winner of the Selden Ring and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, his work has appeared in New York Times, Chicago Tribune, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America and the PBS NewsHour. A senior reporter at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and a recent JSK Fellow at Stanford, his books include Homewreckers, The War Come Home and How America Lost Iraq. He lives in San Francisco.

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Travis Jackson

Iraq Veteran

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2011

Verified Purchase

I served in active duty from 2004-2009. During my five years in the active duty army, I served a year and a half in Iraq as apart of the Iraq Surge. Before I went to Iraq in april 2007, I prayed to God, "If I come back alive, let me be an influence". And God surely answered my prayers, because for 15 months, I learned so much about war. I came back and was misdiagnos for my ptsd. My chain of command "supposingly" had alot to do, so thats why alot of troops were denied the opportunity to gain counselors assistance. After 3 months back in america, misconducts began to rise and i feel into the mix. My stellar performance was swept aside and a year after returning to america, I was given the boot with an "less than honorable".

Anyways, I type the above paragraph in order to state, this book isnt just phenominal, its a "relationship". At first, I was like nonchalant because journalist usually have no ideal what they speak about; however, mr. glantz has been overseas and the majority of the things he writes, are so accurate. for example: page 218, 3rd paragraph, describes a almost normal day in Iraq. The soldiers stories are on point and they've proven "ptsd is a match which starts a forest fire." He even suffered with PTSD upon returning from Iraq, which was a spark for him to jott down notes which turned into this fantastic book. I recommend this book for ALL (especially those who are suicide survivors, victims of the VA hyporcrisy, and most of all, "veterans"). TRIPLE PLANTINUM!!!!!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Warren T. Baldwin

Review of The War Comes Home

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2011

Verified Purchase

Penetrating. Riveting. Engaging. Compelling. Maddening. Glantz's book is all of this and more.

Everyone who cheered the deployment of our troops for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan owe it to those same troops to read this book. Many of the men and women in uniform who left with our support and good will return to a government (and nation) that has forgotten them.

Many of our veterans suffer finanicially, physically and emotionally. Government benefits to which they are entitled (benefits they have more than earned) are often delayed for months or are even denied to them.

Many feel betrayed by the very system that courted them, accepted their enlistment, and sent them off to war. After their time is served the system no longer has a use for them.

Aaron Glantz has provided our veterans and the entire country a wonderful and needed service with The War Comes Home. We need know the second war our young people are having to face once they come back to their homeland - the war to be treated as human beings and receive what is their just and appropriate due.

Buy and read this book.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Did you know a THIRD WTC building fell on 911?

this reflects on US

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

and it isn't a good view

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2010

Verified Purchase

I am so gratified that the real version of what veterans go through when they seek the help that they were promised is as available as reading this book. Like the author, I would like to see ALL of our citizens with magnetic ribbons on their vehicles claiming to support our troops, actually becoming active in helping veterans get the care that they have been promised.

2 people found this helpful

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Mary

the answer's I've been looking for!

Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2010

Verified Purchase

This book is my favorite of Aaron Glantz works! Through this book I've learned what to expect from the VA and how to deal with and also where to find community resources in case I dont get the help I need. I am so thankful for this book and I've introduced everyone I know to it!

2 people found this helpful

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Ken

Required reading for anyone who says they 'support the troops'

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

If you care at all about the plight of our veterans you need to read this book! It will truly turn your stomach to see how these men and women are treated once they come home.

Helpful

KDVH_FLA

A good book - certainly does not make one happy- but ...

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

A good book - certainly does not make one happy- but as I work with returning veterans I found it good to read.

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