Rescuing Soldiers of Misfortune

Book excerpt: This unique book concerns those veteran inmates who have failed to complete a readjustment process and who continue to wage their own personal wars to regain a sense of normalcy – those veterans who have not yet redeployed home from combat even though they have relocated to the inherently traumatizing confinement setting. Aside from identifying factors that will help those seeking to be aware of the unique problems of incarcerated veterans and those advocating for them, the book attempts to help these individuals as well as correctional professionals understand veteran inmates and their “unique” needs, which stem from military service. The text offers that programs must be implemented flexibly despite operational and budgetary challenges. The book clearly provides guidelines to develop relevant programs that do far more than simply warehouse troublesome individuals. Major topics include: components of veterans’ readjustment; military discipline and military discharge; the relationship between military service and crime; criminal manifestations of military service, war zone deployment, and combat trauma; veterans’ benefits and outreach during incarceration; popular approaches to divert veterans from confinement; attributes of veterans’ groups in confined settings; institutionally-based programs for veterans; veterans’ dorms; and urgency in the preparation for the coming “storm” of veteran offenders. This book, which represents years of research and the author’s experience as a military lawyer in both prosecution and defense, is an important reference for a variety of readers, including law enforcement and first responders, corrections professionals, mental health providers, lawyers, judges, and anyone who desires to understand the challenges faced by military veterans in conflict with the law.