Dale Beatty and John Gallina, combat wounded Iraq veterans and co-founders of Purple Heart Homes, spent two years writing Wounded Homecoming: The Uphill Journey of Wounded Veterans from Battlefield to Homefront.
Unfortunately, Beatty did not live to see its publication. On February 12, 2018, just days after Gallina sent the manuscript to the publisher, Dale passed away suddenly at the age of 39 from a double pulmonary embolism that resulted from his combat injuries.
100% of sales from this book will be donated to Purple Heart Homes to support its mission.
Wounded Homecoming: The Uphill Journey of Wounded Veterans from Battlefield to Homefront tells the story of John and Dale, their 22-year friendship, and how providing service to others became a critical aspect of their healing process and who they are today. The book talks of the important role family and community play to help heal the injuries these veterans have suffered. The book also helps us understand the significant value of purpose and passion, the importance of serving others, and the heartbreaking sense of loss that comes with losing a long-time friend, business partner, and battle buddy.
“Dale Beatty was my friend and my battle buddy. When you have a battle buddy you have an unexplainable bond of love and trust unlike any other lifelong friendship. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about Dale and how I long to hear his voice to take his daily ribbing. We just reached the ten-year anniversary starting Purple Heart Homes. We had great plans of what we wanted to do together to help more veterans live safely and with dignity in their homes,” said co-founder and executive director John Gallina. “It is sad that Dale did not live to see this book, which we wrote together, be published. He would have been very proud knowing that this book will help us continue building awareness of Purple Heart Homes and spreading the stories of veterans, like us, who have faced the challenges of returning home after being in combat.”
Purple Heart Homes was established in 2008 to help veterans. In 2010, the organization completed its first project. The number of projects has grown consecutively during each year since, and in 2017 Purple Heart Homes surpassed 300 projects completed.
