Veterans Book

In this book, 50 experts study the lives of U.S. veterans at work, at home, and in American society as they navigate issues regarding health, gender, public service, substance abuse, and homelessness. The aftermath of modern war includes a population of veterans whose needs last for many decades—far longer than the war itself. This in-depth study looks at life after the military, considering the dual conundrum of a population benefiting from the perks of their duty, yet continuing to deal with trauma resulting from their service, and of former servicemen and servicewomen trying to fit into civilian life—in a system designed to keep them separate. Through two comprehensive volumes, essays shed light on more than 30 topics involving or affecting former servicemen and servicewomen, offering a blueprint for the formal study of U.S. veterans in the future. Contributions from dozens of experts in the field of military science cover such issues as unemployment, homelessness, disability, access to higher education, health, media portrayal, criminal justice, substance abuse, guns, suicide, and politics. Through information gleaned from surveys, interviews, participant observations, secondary analyses, and content analyses, the chapters reveal how veterans are able to successfully contribute to civilian life and show how the American workforce can benefit from their unique set of skills.

At the conclusion of World War II, Americans anxiously contemplated the return to peace. It was an uncertain time, filled with concerns about demobilization, inflation, strikes, and the return of a second Great Depression. Balanced against these challenges was the hope in a future of unparalleled opportunities for a generation raised in hard times and war. One of the remarkable untold stories of postwar America is the successful assimilation of sixteen million veterans back into civilian society after 1945. The G.I. generation returned home filled with the same sense of fear and hope as most citizens at the time. Their transition from conflict to normalcy is one of the greatest chapters in American history. "The Greatest Generation Comes Home" combines military and social history into a comprehensive narrative of the veteran's experience after World War II. It integrates early impressions of home in 1945 with later stories of medical recovery, education, work, politics, and entertainment, as well as moving accounts of the dislocation, alienation, and discomfort many faced. The book includes the experiences of not only the millions of veterans drawn from mainstream white America, but also the women, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans who served the nation. Perhaps most important, the book also examines the legacy bequeathed by these veterans to later generations who served in uniform on new battlefields around the world.

The typical wounded soldier must complete and file twenty-two forms after an active-duty injury. To soldiers and their families coping with the shock and reality of the injuries, figuring out what to do next—even completing tasks that seem easy like submitting paperwork—can be overwhelming and confusing. The second edition of this popular resource guide has been thoroughly revised to reflect new policies, additional benefits, updated procedures, and changes to insurance, including traumatic injury insurance and social security disability insurance. New chapters cover veterans' benefits in depth—which have seen significant changes in the last two years—and returning to active duty after an injury. As in the previous edition, this guide directs you to answers and resources for the most pressing and difficult questions that wounded veterans face, such as: Where can I find information on symptoms and treatments of injuries? How do I get through all this paperwork? Where can I get legal assistance? What can I do for employment? How do I get back into everyday life? How can I return to active duty? How do I deal with insurance? What benefits are available to me, and how do I claim them? What about my family? How can they help me? This trusted resource is both comprehensive and easy to use, and now the most up-to-date guide for wounded veterans and their families dealing with active-duty injuries.

"Military veterans are usually "Quiet Warriors" when it comes to talking about their service experiences. It is hard to get most of them to tell anyone about what they went through. For those who will sometimes talk about their realities, the talking is cautiously done most easily among and with other veterans. The editor of this short book had the privilege of sharing these stories as they were written and given to him. As to be expected, each story is an insider, up-close account of what military life looks like to the people who gave the service." Blake E. Edwards

This edited book presents a synthesis of current international knowledge on the topic of military veteran transition to civilian life. Understanding the transition of individuals from military institutions to civilian life is of great importance. The essential elements of transition support are currently widely debated in order to assess current practice and potential shortcomings in the intention to improve health, welfare and social outcomes for military veterans. This text links original research and critical commentary to public policy and practice in the area of veteran transition. Doing so through a collection of international perspectives assists in locating continuity and difference between strategies, agendas and the realities of what is actually known of the veteran’s experience. Chapters in this text examine the subject of transition along lines of enquiry that focus in on themes such as social justice, veteran identity and developments in transition agendas. Globally, many veterans face complex social issues such as low income, barriers to employment, and problems of health and welfare. Chapters take stock of the real-world issues affecting veterans and at the same time casts a critical eye over the limitations in accessing, or denial of access to opportunities, support and remedy. The veteran identity is an important dimension of enquiry here. This book looks at the relational factors between the veteran and the public, the creation of a master status and the challenges faced by veterans in transitioning into a cultural context that is saturated with imagery of what a veteran ‘is’. Chapters also seek to pose recommendations as to how the policy and practice agenda that surrounds veterans and the bridging of the gap between military and civilian life may be developed. Here authors point towards the value of knowledge, research and analysis that is underpinned by participatory strategies with veterans themselves. For example, seeking to establish lines of enquiry that value the voice of veterans as an ongoing and iterative dimension of developing understanding.

The study of military veterans and politics has been a growing topic of interest, but to date most research on the topic has remained isolated in specific, unconnected fields of inquiry. Veterans' Policies, Veterans' Politics is the first multidisciplinary, comprehensive examination of the American veteran experience. Stephen Ortiz has compiled some of the best work on the formation and impact of veterans' policies, the politics of veterans' issues, and veterans' political engagement over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in the United States. By examining the U.S. government's treatment of veterans vis-à-vis such topics as health care, disability, race, the GI Bill, and combat exposure, the contributors reveal how debates regarding veterans' policies inevitably turn into larger political battles over citizenship and the role of the federal government. With the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq now the longest military operations in U.S. history and the numbers of veterans returning from overseas deployment higher than they've been in a generation, this is a timely and necessary book.

This four-volume set provides a history of veterans' healthcare that examines programs of care and veterans' special needs, and offers insight into future directions for veteran's healthcare in the 21st century. This comprehensive contribution to understanding veterans' healthcare uniquely draws on a national and international cadre of scientists and practitioners, both within the Department of Veterans Affairs and specialists beyond the institution, providing a matrix view of veterans' healthcare, past, present, and future, both nationally and internationally. This work will prove an essential reference set that examines and identifies veterans' healthcare through the first decade of the 21st century, invaluable to health and psychology researchers and students, policymakers, social workers, and veterans. The Praeger Handbook of Veterans' Health: History, Challenges, Issues, and Developments is organized to cover four key elements. Volume I presents a history of veterans' healthcare, the various veteran's eras, and the global healthcare provided to our veterans. Volume II examines several of the programs of care and veterans' special needs. Volume III is devoted to the several aspects of mental health care, treatment, and rehabilitation services offered to veterans through the healthcare system. The last volume offers insights into future directions for veterans' healthcare.

Autobiographical accounts and fictional writing by veterans and other trauma victims, including survivors of gang violence, domestic violence, and drug abuse.