The board of directors of the Wounded Warrior Project did the right thing last week in firing the nonprofit group’s two top executives after news reports revealed extravagant spending on travel, luxury resorts as well as other internal problems.

With the firing of the two executives, the Wounded Warrior board began the process of getting the organization back on track helping veterans.

The trouble became public recently after CBS News and the New York Times reported that, among other things, the nonprofit held a national meeting at a luxury resort in Colorado that cost $1 million. Former Wounded Warrior employees told CBS and the Times about first-class travel expenditures and a culture that seemed to have few concerns over questionable spending. They also said several of those who raised concerns over spending were fired.

Since 2009, the organization has been run by chief executive officer Steven Nardizzi and his chief operating officer Al Giordano. Together the two were paid about $1 million a year.

Rather than step up and address the concerns over excessive spending raised in media reports, Nardizzi instead hired a public relations company to spin the story and deflect criticism.

Founded in 2003 by John Media, a former Marine wounded in a helicopter crash in Somalia, the group had humble beginnings. But within a few years, Nardizzi, a lawyer who did not serve in the military, was brought on to help the Wounded Warrior Project grow. Nardizzi decided to follow a growth model behind some successful for-profit companies. He developed an aggressive fundraising program that led to the production of emotional television spots featuring veterans struggling with physical and emotional damage caused by combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wounded Warrior’s aggressive tactics and powerful television ads that pulled at the heart strings helped it become the largest and fastest growing charity benefiting veterans. Since 2009, when founder Media left over a dispute with Nardizzi, the group has raised nearly $1 billion.

But with that rapid growth came a culture that enjoyed the perks of big business. Excessive spending by top management meant less money was available to help veterans.

According to Charity Watch, a watchdog group that monitors nonprofits, the Wounded Warrior Project spent 40 percent of the money raised in 2014 on overhead, including salaries, travel, entertainment and marketing.

That 40 percent figure is a red flag within the nonprofit sector, where efficient spending, keeping overhead low, is crucial. The Semper Fi Fund, another charity benefiting wounded veterans, has a much more efficient operation, with only about 8 percent of revenues going to overhead.

The Wounded Warrior Project raised $372 million in 2015, which is impressive. But in 2014, it spent $125 million on overhead — executive salaries, travel, meals and public relations.

While the lax spending should have been caught and stopped sooner, the organization’s board reacted quickly after national news reports put the spotlight on the organization’s wasteful spending. Its prompt firing of the two top executives, who set the tone and seemed more interested in first-class travel and luxury accommodations than helping veterans.

To be fair, the Wounded Warrior Project, with 22 locations around the country offering services to veterans, has done much good for veterans. But if that $100 million a year was not spent on overhead, the group could have helped veterans even more.

The board deserves credit for removing the two executives. Charity Watch deserves credit for sounding alarms over spending 40 cents of every dollar on overhead. Former employees deserve credit for speaking up and showing the media what was going on behind the slick television commercials.