The United States has the most comprehensive system for care of and assistance for veterans of any nation in the world. This system has deep roots in the developing of this country and starts at the beginning of its history. Its roots trace back to 1636 when the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony were fighting the Pequot Indians. They passed a law that stated that disabled veterans would be supported by the colony. The Continental Congress of 1776 encouraged enlistments during the Revolutionary War by providing pensions for soldiers who were disabled. One of my ancestors, Thomas Earl Conn, injured in battle of Revolutionary War was awarded a section of land and a pension for his services. But the direct care of veterans of the early periods was provided by the individual states and communities. In 1811 the first domiciliary and medical facility for veterans was authorized by the Federal Government. Later in the 19th century the benefits were expanded to include not only the veterans but also their widows and dependents.
Beginning in the early 1800s the government of the United States government opened
institutions called marine hospitals for the medical care of merchant seamen. Originating
on the Atlantic seaboard, these institutions eventually were built at major cities
on inland waterways as well. Administered by what came to be called the U.S. Public
Health Service, marine hospitals as well as Soldiers' Homes, the U.S. Naval Home
in Philadelphia, St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington DC, and occasionally active-
Congress established a new system for the benefit of veterans when the United States
entered the First World War in 1917. Included in these were programs for disability
compensations, insurance for service personnel, and vocational rehabilitation for
the disabled. By the 1920's the various benefits were administered by three different
Federal agencies: The Veterans Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department,
and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. When approximately 200,000
discharged U.S. soldiers in need of further hospitalization began to return from
World War I the necessity to expand hospital care for veterans became apparent. In
the Chicago area sick and injured veterans were sent to the old Marine Hospital in
the Lake View community on the North Side and to United States Public Health Hospital
No. 30, which was the commandeered Cooper-
In 1921 the new Veterans' Bureau (renamed the Veterans' Administration [VA] in 1930)
consolidated veterans' affairs and the following year assumed control of Public Health
Service hospitals serving veterans. The largest of the Chicago-
who had died in France. Marshal Foch of the French Army came to Chicago for its dedication. Five years later, the North Chicago Veterans' Administration Hospital opened near the Great Lakes Naval Training Station about 40 miles north of the city.
Although they had fought America's enemies alongside white soldiers, black American veterans found segregation and unequal treatment in some veterans' hospitals and doors were totally closed to them at others. The Harding administration built a federal hospital for black veterans in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1923 but it was not until 1953 that the VA officially ordered an end to segregation in all its hospitals.
Just after World War II the Hines Hospital was first in the VA system to affiliate with a local medical school to enhance medical care while providing clinical education for medical students. Large numbers of veterans after World War II and the Korean War began a drive to expand medical education. This prompted construction of two VA hospitals within Chicago's borders. The West Side VA Hospital was built in Chicago's Medical District in 1953 and the VA Research Hospital (later known as Lakeside Hospital) arose on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University in 1954.
At the beginning of the twenty-
The VA health care system has grown from 54 hospitals in 1930 to include 171 full Medical Centers, more than 350 Outpatient Clinics (CBOC), 126 Nursing Homes care units and 35 domiciliaries. VA health care facilities provide a broad spectrum of medical, surgical and rehabilitative care. WW II resulted in not only a vast increase in the veteran population but also in large number of new benefits enacted by the Congress for veterans of the war. The World War II GI Bill, written by the American Legion and signed into law on the 22nd of June 1944, is said to have had more impact on the American way of life than any law since the Homestead Act more than a century ago. After the Korean War more benefits were passed and also for the Vietnam Era, Persian Gulf War and the all volunteer force.
In 1973 the VA assumed even another major responsibility when the National Cemetery System (except for Arlington) was transferred to the Veterans Administration from the Department of the Army.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was thus established as a Cabinet Level position on the 15th of March, 1989. President Bush hailed the creation of the new Department saying: "There is only one place for the veterans of America, in the Cabinet Room, at the table with the President of the United States.”
THE VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
by Rick Conn, MSA VAMC Program Georgia State Coordinator
To view Georgia veterans benefits click HERE
Military veterans and the next of kin of deceased former military members may now use a new online military personnel records system to request documents.
Other individuals with a need for documents must still complete the Standard Form
180, which can be downloaded from the on-
To request veterans records click HERE
