Wounded Warrior Resources: Books

"The VA is not your loving Uncle Sam who opens his wallet and says, `Here you are, nephew--a $1,000 check per month for the rest of your life. That should take the pain out of your service injuries,' " writes John D. Roche. Far from it, he reveals.

Though the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 requires Veterans Affairs to assist veterans in developing the foundation to support their claims, in reality if you rely on the VA to find and develop the evidence necessary to grant benefits then your claim is likely to be denied. Claim Denied! will help those veterans whose benefits have been denied correct the mistakes they made when they submitted their original claims. Appealing a VA decision is not an impossible feat, Roche says, but a veteran's story must be presented in a well-organized and logical format, so any reviewing authority is able to understand the issues as they relate to the laws. This book explains in detail how to develop and present a successful appeal.

Exit Wounds

A survival guide to pain management for returning veterans and their families

Author: Derek Mcginnis, Copyright @ 2009

Written by wounded Iraq war veteran and APF's Military/Veterans Amputee Program Advocate, Derek McGinnis, Exit Wounds narrates the inspirational story of how one courageous veteran, with the aid of his family, recovered and thrived despite near death, traumatic brain injury, and the loss of a limb. Exit Wounds also offers veterans and their families comprehensive and authoritative information on acute and chronic pain syndromes afflicting veterans, treatment options, and strategies for self-advocating for optimal pain care and medical resources inside and outside the VA system.

Everything About ME (Military Personnel and Families Edition)

A Guide for My Future Caregivers

Author: Dee Marrella, Copyright @ 2011

With the huge numbers of American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with injuries requiring long-term care -- possibly life-long care, this book (print and electronic versions) provides individuals and their families with a way to create a true tool that can be used by any caregiver who ever works with this person. Since family members might not always be available to be the caregiver in a veterans life, this guide will provide even a total caring stranger with a lifetime of knowledge, information and guidance on what the individual desires in the way of caregiving. This book, when completed, will tell all who use it every important fact about them: how "I" feel about life support, my favorite foods, the TV programs I dislike, how I'd like to have my obituary read, and my funeral conducted. When the time comes that a once vibrant individual required round-the-clock caregiving, and may not have a "voice" left o speak with -- this book can be that "voice" tell all who use it everything you want known.

Keeping It All Together

For wounded, ill and injured service members and their families

Link to free download

Keeping It All Together is an organizing notebook for wounded, ill, and injured service members and their families. This tool helps to document and organize the service member's important information during the service member's treatment and recovery.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Your Military and Veterans Benefits

A comprehensive guide to your military and veterans benefits

Authors: Lawrence J. Webber, Katrina L. Webber, Copyright @ 2008

The U.S. Armed Forces exists in a reality all its own. Members are fed, paid, clothed, housed, and protected in a way few other American citizens can claim. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines can shop at low-price grocery stores, protect their families with low-cost insurance, and earn a lifetime pension before they turn 40 years old. In fact, military life offers so many benefits and perks, it’s hard for the average serviceman or woman to keep track of them. Finally, here is a guide that explains the benefits and how to obtain them. Inside, readers will find:

Clear and precise explanations of active duty family benefits

Details on veteran education and medical benefits

A money-saving guide to discounts for both active duty personnel and Veterans

The Expert's Guide to Veterans Benefits

2010 - 2011 Edition

Author: Robin Alford, Copyright @ 2010

Helping veterans to receive their rightly deserved benefi ts has always been a daunting task. The biggest problem that pretty much all veterans can agree upon is that the system in place for our veterans today is like a giant maze with unforeseen perilous traps around every corner. Some of the other major problems that exist are that the majority of veterans and their families rarely know all of the benefifi ts they are eligible to receive, how and where to apply for them, and which documentation is necessary to support their claims for each benefit. “The Expert’s Guide to Veteran’s Benefits can help. By explaining in easy to understand terms, how to identify and overcome the numerous barriers that often stand in the way of receiving your rightly deserved veterans benefififi ts. Explaining in careful detail how the system works, and teaching veterans how to avoid the time consuming and often costly mistakes, before they make them.

The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time

A Doonesbury Book

Author: G. B. Trudeau, Copyright @ 2005

On a road outside Fallujah, an RPG blows apart a Humvee and upends the life of a former football star. As a medevac chopper swoops down, the wounded Guardsman hears "Not your time, bro. Not today," and his remarkable healing journey begins.

Thousands of U.S. soldiers have suffered grievous wounds in Iraq, but only one of them is a Doonesbury character. The Long Road Home: One Step at a Time chronicles seven months of cutting-edge cartooning, during which B.D.-and readers of the strip-got an up-close schooling in a kind of personal transformation no one seeks.

Deprived not only of leg but also his ubiquitous trademark helmet, B.D. survives first-response Baghdad triage, evacuation to Landstuhl's surgeon-rich environment, and visits by innumerable morale-boosting celebs, both red and blue in hue. He's awed in turn by morphine, take-no-guff nurses, his fellow amps, and his family, including the daughter who hand-delivers succor, one aspirin at a time.

Transferred stateside to Walter Reed's Ward 57, B.D. is inspired by the wisdom of physiatrists, warmed by the dedicated ministrations of real-life fellow-amp heroes like Jim the Milkshake Man, and dazzled by high-tech prostheses that cost more than luxury cars. He's annoyed by his own bouts with self-pity, by the bedside awkwardness of friends more comfortable regarding his stump from e-mail distance, and by Zonk's unwavering commitment to supplementing his care with organic meds.

As their journey continues, B.D. and Boopsie are cared for by Fisher House, a home-next-door-to-the-hospital for families whose lives revolve around therapy. B.D. finds himself painfully engaged in building his future, one sadistically difficult physical therapy session at a time. "To Lash, Helga, and the Marquis!" toast the band of differently limbed brethren, raising their glasses to their PT masters as they prepare for reentry into the ambulatory world.

From rebuilding tissue to rebuilding social skills to rebuilding lives, B.D's inspiring, insightful, and darkly humorous story confirms that it can take a village, or at least a ward, to raise a soldier when he's gone down. "Thank you for getting blown up," offers one of B.D.'s visiting players. Replies the coach, "Just doing my job."

The Military Advantage (2016 Edition)

The Military.com guide to military and veterans benefits

Author: Terry Howell, Copyright @ 2016

Revised and updated every year, The Military Advantage, 2016 Edition is the most reliable benefits guide for Americans who have answered the call to serve in the military. These benefits amount to billions in scholarships, educational benefits, home loan guarantees, and military discounts. The 2016 edition includes TRICARE Prime and pharmacy updates, 2016 pay and allowance rates, active duty education program changes, new Navy sea pay charts, new veteran support resources, expanded service member protection policies, and changes in service member life insurance.

The Veteran's Survival Guide (Second Edition)

How to File and Collect on VA Claims

Author: John D. Roche, Copyright @ 2006

"Claim denied!" All too often millions of veterans have received this response to their legitimate claims for federal benefits. In most cases, writes veterans' advocate John D. Roche, the claimant didn't understand the procedures needed to meet the myriad requirements of the Department of Veterans Affairs. With the appeals process requiring years to resolve disputes, deserving veterans and their dependents are left confused and frustrated by the agency and a system that was created to serve them. The answer is to submit a well-grounded claim initially, which The Veteran's Survival Guide, now in a revised, second edition, analyzes in detail. This unique book, written in an accessible self-help style, will be required reading for any veteran or veteran's dependent who wishes to obtain his or her well-earned benefits and for those officials of veterans' service organizations who assist veterans with their claims.

The Wounded Warrior Handbook (Second Edition)

A resource guide for returning veterans

Authors: Don Philpott, Janelle Hill, Copyright @ 2015

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.

Encouragement

Beautifully Broken

An unlikely journey of faith

Author: Paige Wetzel and Josh Wetzel, Copyright @ 2020

Restore your faith in love and family with one Army wife's courageous story of how she helped her husband recuperate from losing both of his legs while serving in Afghanistan.

Paige received the phone call that every military wife prays will never come. Her husband, Army Sergeant Josh Wetzel, stepped on an improvised explosive device while patrolling in Afghanistan. The blast resulted in the immediate loss of his legs. His survival was uncertain, and in the days to come, this traumatic incident began an unbelievable journey of faith for them as a couple.

Paige's vulnerability as she struggles physically, emotionally, and spiritually, will remind you of the power of commitment and love in the face of adversity. You will discover the bravery and grit of a woman who stood behind the battle lines but faced a battle of her own to save her marriage and her family. As a military wife, Paige had to come to terms with the priorities of the military: God, Country, and then Family.

Commitment to Love

Authors: Deanna McClary, Jerry B. Jenkins, Copyright @ 2002

When young Deanna Fowler met and married Patrick Cleburn "Clebe" McClary III, she felt as though she'd found her own Prince Charming. It seemed the Southern beauty queen and the handsome "man's man" would live happily ever after.

Then Clebe decided to serve his country and the couple found themselves half-a-world apart as he fought in the tangled jungles of Vietnam. Knowing that every day could be his date with death, Deanna silently wondered if he would ever come back alive. Her fears were justified when Clebe returned barely holding onto life, his body riddled with shrapnel. A hostile grenade attack had severed his left arm and blown out an eye.

Deanna was to become involved with every aspect of his rehabilitation. From that day on, simple tasks such as buttoning a button, tying a shoelace, or cutting up food would have to be done with a helping hand-Deanna's hand. Her love would be put to the test.

How Deanna and Clebe chose to deal with their tragedy will cause you to take a second look at your own marriage. Commentment to Love follows Deanna's determination to have a normal marriage and family life despite the obstacles. As in any marriage, there were times when the taking outweighed the giving and misunderstandings could have driven a deep wedge in their relationship. But Deanna shows that in this age of "quick fixes, speedy divorces, and instant answers to life's most difficult questions...it's the tough choice, the careful solution, the lengthy, agonizing struggle, that produces the most beautiful results." There is a need to slow down and seek God's help in coping with the inevitable blows of life.

Through her courage, you may begin to see your own struggles in a different light and learn to draw upon the same Source that continues to bring peace, strength, and security to the McClarys and millions of others who have found the greatest love of all-the love of God.

Hope Unseen

The Story of the U.S. Army's First Blind Active-Duty Officer

Author: Scotty Smiley, Copyright @ 2010

Blindness became Captain Scotty Smiley’s journey of supreme testing. As he lay helpless in the hospital, he resented the theft of his dreams—becoming a CEO, a Delta Force operator, or a four-star general. With his wife Tiffany’s love and the support of his family and friends, Scotty’s response became God’s transforming moment. The injury only intensified his indomitable spirit. Since the moment he jumped out of a hospital bed and forced his way through nurses and cords to take a simple shower, Captain Scotty Smiley has climbed Mount Rainier, won an ESPY as Best Outdoor Athlete, surfed, skydived, become a father, earned an MBA from Duke, taught leadership at West Point, commanded an army company, and won the MacArthur Leadership Award. Scotty and Tiffany Smiley have lived out a faith so real that it will inspire you to question your own doubts, push you to serve something bigger than yourself, and encourage you to cling to a Hope Unseen.

My Miracle Marine

The story of three-time Purple Heart recipient LCPL. John McClellan

Author: Connie McClellan, Copyright @ 2008

In June 2005, 19-year-old Marine Lance Corporal, John McClellan, deployed to Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Five months later, while on duty as a machine gunner, Lcpl. McClellan was shot twice in the same arm -- in the same week! The injuries he sustained were viewed as miraculously minor. The first, an enemy AK-47 bullet, ricocheted off the humvee turret and embedded in his right wrist. Six days later, he was shot a second time, again, an enemy AK-47 bullet, except this bullet entered and exited the upper portion of his right arm. Neither injury hit...nor hurt...anything! Within two weeks after the second injury Lcpl. McClellan bravely returned to the turret. On September 11, 2006, McClellan deployed to Haditha, Iraq, where fifteen days later, while on patrol, he sustained an enemy sniper shot through his head. His head injury was so severe the doctor told his parents via phone that night, If he survives the brain swelling, he will not be the same...and will more than likely be a vegetable. From the moment of that every parents worst nightmare call, John's mother, Connie McClellan, launched a continuous flow of emails to family and friends, requesting prayer, announcing answers to prayer, and updating everyone on John's condition. My Miracle Marine is a compilation of those emails which created a journal describing the chain of events leading to John's amazing recovery. Also included are emails from John's comrades, still in Iraq, giving an account of the battles they endured, physically and emotionally. Complimenting the email journal are narratives by Connie McClellan describing other incredible events the family experienced during John's recovery. Especially valuable were the continuous divinely orchestrated coincidences which she has since dubbed Godsidences. It was as though God was wrapping his arms around her, ministering, I m still here; I will not leave you or forsake you. My Miracle Marine is a story of a mother's faith, of prayer, of a young Marine's valiant fight for recovery and most importantly, of God's miracle working power. Further, My Miracle Marine is a story of hope...for everyone.

Never the Same

The untold story of one Soldier's personal encounter with a suicide bomber

Author: B.C. Fleming, Copyright @ 2011

On one calm morning in late July 2006, a ten vehicle convoy departed its Forward Operating Base in southeastern Afghanistan. Destination: KANDAHAR. Less than five hours later one soldier awoke, burned and bloody, in a ditch on the side of the road.

This is the story of Sergeant B.C. Fleming. A Team Leader in the Reconnaissance Platoon with the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, Fleming recounts his grueling experience of waging war in the high-desert mountains of Afghanistan. From being shot at to getting blown up TWICE to delivering humanitarian aid to impoverished children, he candidly describes "the real story" of the war in Afghanistan as he experienced it.

His story is one of truth, pain, sacrifice, soul-searching, and the unthinkable adversity American troops overcome daily in order to protect and defend the American people.

Standing Together

The inspirational story of a Wounded Warrior and enduring love

Author: Carlos R. Evans and Rosemarie Evans, Copyright @ 2019

A true story of hope and courage in the face of astonishing challenges

During his fourth deployment, US Marine Corps Sergeant Carlos Evans stepped on an IED--and the loss of both legs and his left hand was just the beginning of the struggle for his life.

For the next two years, he and his wife, Rosemarie, went through the rehabilitation process together. As a nurse and mother of two young children, Rosemarie was used to caring for people, but the task of taking care of her triple-amputee husband brought new challenges every day. In addition to his limb loss, Carlos faced PTSD and developed an addiction to painkillers. He was sure Rosemarie's life would be better without him--and that it might have been better if he hadn't survived at all.

But unlike the majority of marriages put under similar strain, Carlos and Rosemarie stayed together. With the help of family, friends, and--most importantly―a strong faith, they've built a solid marriage and discovered a ministry they never expected. By the hand of God, their story, which began in devastation, has turned into one that draws in and lifts up more people than either of them would ever have dreamed.

Not only will disabled veterans and their loved ones find help here, Carlos and Rosemarie's captivating journey also speaks to those who long for stronger marriages, care for loved ones with disabilities, or are facing a new normal in their own lives, small or large. It is a powerful resource for leaning on God in the midst of life's great difficulties--and for finding ways that, through faith, profound loss can bring incredible blessing.

Unbreakable Bonds

The mighty moms and Wounded Warriors of Walter Reed

Authors: Dava Guerin and Kevin Ferris, Copyright @ 2014

Unbreakable Bonds tells ten touching stories of mothers who spent years aiding the recovery of their children, US soldiers and Marines who suffered severe injuries during the War on Terror. The survival of these wounded warriors is a testament not only to the extraordinary efforts of military medical personnel and their own inner fortitude, but also to their mothers. These women put their lives on hold from the moment they get that first call about their injured son or daughter, giving up their homes and careers and leaving behind family and friends. They are ever present, from those agonizing early days in intensive care, through dozens of lifesaving operations and the months and years of both triumphs and setbacks during therapy and rehabilitation. Their commitment, like the wounds their children suffer, is lifelong.

Unbreakable Bonds showcases the selfless love and support of the mothers who, like their wounded warriors, have been changed forever, and who have, without hesitation, sacrificed greatly for their country. They also find strength through the exclusive network of caregivers, who are there not only for their sons and daughters, but for each other as well.

With forewords from former president George H. W. Bush and former Maryland congresswoman Connie Morella, this book will appeal to US service members and their loved ones—and those without ties to the military will gain appreciation for those who risk so much to serve our country.

Wounded Soldier

A reason to live, a faith that heals

Author: John Steer, Copyright @ 1997

Imagine struggling through a childhood dominated by an intimidating father. Imagine stepping into an elite airborne division that trains you to be a killer in Vietnam. Try to imagine stumbling back into society after that...minus an arm. All of a sudden, your body isn't whole, and your country turns its face as you approach.

This is the story of John Steer, a heavily-decorated soldier from Vietnam, a wandering warrior returning from Southeast Asia, from a troubled past, and full of hate for himself and everyone else. In need of a lifeline, this brawling ex-soldier finally finds a commander worth his respect: John Steer meets Jesus Christ, and the healing begins...

Wounded Soldier is the powerful story of a man in search of himself. Read and believe.

Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior

A personal story of a Vietnam veteran who lost his legs but found his soul

Author: Allen B. Clark Jr., Copyright @ 2007

It was early morning, June 17, 1967, and Dak To Special Forces camp in Vietnam was under attack. A mortar exploded, and West Point graduate Allen B. Clark Jr.’s life was changed forever. This is the story of how one soldier, so gravely injured that both of his legs were amputated, turned his grievous loss into a personal triumph. Clark describes his struggle through a year-long recovery and a severe bout of post traumatic stress disorder, so little understood at the time.

He tells of earning his MBA from Southern Methodist University and finding employment as a personal financial assistant to Ross Perot, of moving on to public service and founding the Combat Faith Ministry, a lay ministry to veterans. Clark's story of growth and spiritual fulfillment wrested from his wartime tragedy is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and is of special relevance in our day of so many soldiers returning wounded in body and spirit from Iraq.

Wounded Warriors

Those for whom the war never ends

Author: Mike Sager, Copyright @ 2008

True stories of obstacles, adversity, and stubborn transcendence-including an extraordinary group of wounded Iraq War veterans.

Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell prided himself on being a hard-core Marine--a patriotic Devil Dog on his third tour of Iraq. Then his brain was shredded with mortar shrapnel.

Today, Maxwell has a large angry scar on the left side of his head. He forgets words, his wife has to read to him, and he drags one foot when he walks. For Maxwell and the veterans at the Wounded Warrior Barracks he founded at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Iraq and Afghanistan will never quite be in the past. And the struggle never ends.

Other stories in Wounded Warriors depict life inside an LA crack gang, ex-pat Vietnam War veterans in Thailand, and five days in Las Vegas with basketball anti-hero Kobe Bryant--all of it captured stylishly by the writer who has been called "the beat poet of American journalism."

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Benefits and resources