Home Front: The Government's War on Soldiers

In Home Front, author Penny Coleman investigates how the U.S. government has handled combat trauma and veteran mental health throughout history. She documents official policies around PTSD and suicide among veterans, tracing patterns from the Civil War through modern conflicts. Coleman combines historical research with interviews of veterans and their families, focusing particularly on Vietnam veterans and their struggles. The book examines the bureaucratic and institutional barriers that prevented many soldiers from receiving proper mental health care after returning from war. Through personal stories and archival evidence, the narrative reveals how military culture and government policies have often worked against veterans seeking help for psychological wounds. Coleman also analyzes the evolution of military psychiatry and changing attitudes toward combat stress. The work stands as an indictment of systemic failures while raising questions about responsibility, denial, and the true costs of war that extend far beyond the battlefield. This examination of institutional neglect challenges readers to consider how societies care for those they send to war.

There appear to be very few public reader reviews available for "Home Front: The Government's War on Soldiers." The book has limited presence on review platforms, with only 1 rating on Goodreads (4 stars) and no written reviews. Amazon shows no customer reviews. The limited available reader feedback notes the book's focus on veteran suicide and military mental health policy. One reader highlighted the personal accounts from veterans' families and Coleman's research into military psychiatric policies. Another noted the historical documentation of how PTSD treatment evolved through different wars. What readers appreciated: - Personal stories and interviews - Historical context of military mental health treatment - Documentation of policy changes What readers critiqued: - Dense policy details in some sections - Limited scope of veteran experiences covered Review Platform Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (1 rating) Amazon: No ratings LibraryThing: No ratings

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🔹 Author Penny Coleman is the widow of Daniel O'Connor, a Vietnam veteran who died by suicide, which inspired her to research and write about PTSD and veteran mental health. 🔹 The book reveals that as early as WWI, military psychiatrists recognized "shell shock" (now known as PTSD) as a legitimate combat injury, yet the government often denied treatment and benefits to affected soldiers. 🔹 Home Front examines how the U.S. government has historically labeled combat trauma as a pre-existing condition or character defect to avoid responsibility for veterans' care. 🔹 The research presented shows that Vietnam veterans had a suicide rate 58% higher than civilians of the same age group during the years after the war. 🔹 Coleman conducted extensive interviews with veterans' families and uncovered previously classified government documents to expose systematic denial of PTSD treatment throughout multiple wars.