Overview

"According to General Jim Mattis, former US Secretary of Defense, Wounding Warriors is ""an unflinching appraisal...a must-read for those committed to caring for our Veterans who have borne the battle."" Indeed, Wounding Warriors: How Bad Policy Is Making Veterans Sicker and Poorer is a transformational effort of research into the Department of Veterans Affairs and the US military. Authors Daniel Gade--retired US Army lieutenant colonel, professor, public policy leader, and former US Senate candidate from Virginia--and former Wall Street Journal Reporter Daniel Huang interviewed dozens of veterans who saw the perverse structure of incentives within the VA from the inside. The authors also combed through years of literature and compiled a wealth of data that demonstrates beyond all reasonable doubt that our system of caring for veterans, post-military, is broken. As former US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said in his review of the book, it is ""an unflinching appraisal"" of how the Department of Veterans Affairs rewards disingenuity and dishonesty. Wounding Warriors, however, does more than identify flaws in how veterans are cared for after their time in service is up. It also outlines solutions that would move veterans to take a healthy approach to post-military life. Wounding Warriors is a must-read for veterans, their families, and anyone who has felt subjected to a corrupt system of bad incentives."

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9781955026994

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Reviews

"""[Wounding Warriors] makes a compelling case for reform. Lincoln's immortal words in his second inaugural address, ""To care for him who has borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan"" have served as a beacon, but today are shrouded in fog. It is time to bring the disability compensation program into the twenty-first century and not the century gone by. Reform is never easy, but veterans who have suffered the physical and mental wounds of war, their dependents, and the American people who support this critically important program deserve no less."" -Anthony Principi, 4th Secretary of Veterans Affairs ""[Wounding Warriors shows that] the current system promotes waste and abuse not only of VA disability payments but of unnecessary medical appointments. It would almost be better to give soldiers a piece of paper that asks, ""Are you willing to lie, cheat, and/or steal to receive 100 percent disability?"" and if they check yes, just give them 100 percent because it will free up waste from unnecessary imaging, behavioral health, sleep studies, etc."" -MAJ [Name Withheld], PT, DPT, MHA, MBA; US Army ""A vitally important book, written by someone uniquely qualified to tell the story. Reaching all the way back to the post-World War II era (when five-star General Omar Bradley -- one of the great leaders of that war -- led a commission that identified the ""perverse incentive structure"" that continues in our current VA disability system), this book shows us how 'the path of care and compensation' has led to a 'quagmire of despair and dysfunction.' ""Astoundingly well documented, with a clarion call for action and clear-cut recommendations, Wounding Warriors shows us the road home from dysfunction and despair. This book can transform the way we care for our veterans, from the current methodology that has done great harm, to policies that will give our veterans the care they deserve. If our nation sincerely cares about our veterans, we will read and heed this book."" -Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, author of On Combat, On Killing, and On Spiritual Combat ""America's veterans, including the most seriously wounded, ill, and injured, have become the latest battleground in a long-standing political war. The political left and right both trip over themselves to 'honor veterans, ' not ever considering that their efforts may be misguided or even harmful to those they aim to help. In this bold, groundbreaking new book, Daniel Gade exposes flaws in the disability system that make America's veterans poorer and sicker. This book will be controversial, and it should be read by anyone who seeks to understand the veteran landscape in America."" -Col (Ret.) Jack Jacobs, US Army, Medal of Honor Recipient and Author of If Not Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice In America's Time of Need and Basic: Surviving Boot Camp and Basic Training ""As a US Army veteran and former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, I find this book to be a breath of fresh air. In Wounding Warriors, Daniel Gade, himself a wounded warrior, dissects and critiques some of the serious issues that beset our nation's worthy attempts to care for our wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans. His credibility is ironclad and his argument is stunning: in attempting to care for veterans, our disability system creates incentives that make them sicker, poorer, and worse off. This is a must-read for policy makers and anyone involved in care for veterans, as well as for veterans and their families."" -Jim Nicholson, 5th Secretary of Veterans Affairs ""Daniel Gade's real education came after losing his leg fighting in Iraq. The most disturbing lesson paradoxically came from the agency that was supposed to help put him back together. What Gade discovered both through his own experiences and extensive research of others' is this: rather than assisting warriors in returning to productive lives, the Veterans Administration encourages fraud and rewards indolence, further marginalizing these men and women and robbing the nation of their potentially robust contributions and continued service post-war. These meticulously researched findings set to compelling human narratives won't make Gade very popular. But they represent the brave effort and convincing factual evidence necessary for the hard work of systemic change when the system is broken."" -Kevin Sites, author of Swimming with Warlords ""I found myself re-reading parts of this book as they strike so deep. [The authors captured] the reality of soldiering as well as anything I've read. This book accurately describes a broken and spectacularly failing VA system, and will make plenty of people squeamish. Between popular culture, wishful thinking, and an untamable bureaucracy, I'm afraid that the only real solution is to blow the whole system up and start over."" -Matt Eversmann, Army Ranger (Ret.) and Author of The Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger ""This revelatory, lens-changing book shows why our VA, though staffed by devoted and capable medical professionals, must change. Institutions get the behavior they reward. Seen through the experience of a clear-eyed, seriously wounded warrior, the current system's design and application guides vets coming in with no intent of becoming wards of the state into that very situation. Those with serious problems are submerged in a sea of others who are rewarded for staying in an unimproved situation. In Wounding Warriors, Daniel Gade has made an unflinching appraisal and charted a refreshing path forward for making the VA best in class. A must-read for those committed to caring for our veterans who have borne the battle."" -General (ret.) Jim Mattis, US Marine Corps (Ret), Former US Secretary of Defense"

Author Information

Daniel Gade was born and raised in Minot, North Dakota. He enlisted in the Army in 1992 and deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom as a company commander in August 2004. He was wounded by enemy fire twice and decorated for valor; the second wounding resulted in the amputation of his entire right leg. After retiring from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2017, he accepted a political appointment as a Senior Advisor at the US Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS). In 2019, he ran unsuccessfully for United States Senate in Virginia, but garnered more votes than any Republican candidate in Virginia history. Daniel's military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, the Combat Action Badge, Ranger Tab, Presidential Service Badge, and both Airborne and Air Assault wings. He and his family reside in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

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