Wounded Warrior Project accused of out-of-control spending on parties, meetings

A Wounded Warrior Project balloon at New York City's Veterans Day parade.
(Image credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

While doing research for an investigative exposé, CBS News says it spoke with more than 40 former employees of the Wounded Warrior Project who said the charity spends millions of dollars in donations on lavish conferences and events.

In 2013, Erick Millette, who served in Iraq and came home with PTSD and a traumatic brain injury, took a job as a speaker with the Wounded Warrior Project after receiving its services. He said he quit two years later, disillusioned by events where money was spent on over-the-top dinners, with live entertainment, alcohol, and swag. "You're using our injuries, our darkest days, our hardships, to make money," he told CBS News. "So you can have these big parties." He said the charity held events at expensive hotels, and even if people lived in the area they were told they had to spend the night.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.