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Department of Veterans Affairs: Difference between revisions
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==History== | ==History== | ||
The history and evolution of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are inextricably intertwined and dependent on the history of America's wars, as wounded former soldiers and other US military veterans are the population the VA cares for. The [[list of wars involving the United States]] from the [[American Revolutionary War]] to the present totals ninety-nine wars. The majority of the [[United States military casualties of war]], however, occurred in the following eight wars: American Revolutionary War (est. 8,000), | The history and evolution of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are inextricably intertwined and dependent on the history of America's wars, as wounded former soldiers and other US military veterans are the population the VA cares for. The [[list of wars involving the United States]] from the [[American Revolutionary War]] to the present totals ninety-nine wars. The majority of the [[United States military casualties of war]], however, occurred in the following eight wars: American Revolutionary War (est. 8,000), American Civil War (218,222), [[World War I]] (53,402), [[World War II]] (291,567), [[Korean War]] (33,686), [[Vietnam War]] (47,424), [[Iraq War]] (3,836), and the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|War in Afghanistan]] (1,833). It is these wars that have primarily driven the mission and evolution of the VA. The VA maintains a detailed list of war wounded, as it is this population that comprises the VA care system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=America's Wars |url=https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf |access-date=2 November 2023 |website=www.va.gov}}</ref> | ||
===Origins=== | ===Origins=== | ||
The [[Continental Congress]] of 1776 encouraged enlistments during the [[American Revolutionary War]] by providing pensions for soldiers who were disabled. Three weeks after passing the law compensating the injured, the Continental Congress in September 1776 also approved a resolution awarding grants of public land to all who served in the Continental Army for the duration of the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-07 |title=Object 2: Bounty land warrant - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/object-2-bounty-land-warrant/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> Direct medical and hospital care given to veterans in the early days of the U.S. was provided by the individual states and communities. In 1811, the [[Philadelphia Naval Asylum|first domiciliary and medical facility]] for veterans was authorized by the federal government but not opened until 1834.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-13 |title=Object 4: U.S. Naval Asylum - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/004-naval-asylum/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> In the 19th century, the nation's veterans assistance program was expanded to include benefits and pensions not only for veterans but also their widows and dependents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-24 |title=Object 16: War of 1812 Widow's Pension Claim - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/object-16-war-of-1812-widows-pension-claim/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> | The [[Continental Congress]] of 1776 encouraged enlistments during the [[American Revolutionary War]] by providing pensions for soldiers who were disabled. Three weeks after passing the law compensating the injured, the Continental Congress in September 1776 also approved a resolution awarding grants of public land to all who served in the Continental Army for the duration of the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-07 |title=Object 2: Bounty land warrant - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/object-2-bounty-land-warrant/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> Direct medical and hospital care given to veterans in the early days of the U.S. was provided by the individual states and communities. In 1811, the [[Philadelphia Naval Asylum|first domiciliary and medical facility]] for veterans was authorized by the federal government but not opened until 1834.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-13 |title=Object 4: U.S. Naval Asylum - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/004-naval-asylum/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> In the 19th century, the nation's veterans assistance program was expanded to include benefits and pensions not only for veterans but also their widows and dependents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-24 |title=Object 16: War of 1812 Widow's Pension Claim - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/object-16-war-of-1812-widows-pension-claim/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> | ||
Prior to the end of the | Prior to the end of the American Civil War in 1865, Delphine Baker, a volunteer nurse during the war, rallied support to petition the federal government to create a national home for Civil War veterans, based on the [[Armed Forces Retirement Home|U.S. Soldiers Home]] in Washington, D.C. and the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia for U.S. active-duty veterans. The bill establishing the [[National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers]] was passed on March 3, 1865.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-23 |title=Delphine Baker and Emma Miller: Women and the Creation of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/featured-stories/emma-miller-delphine-baker/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> The very next day, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] vouched for the mission of the future facilities in his second inaugural address: <blockquote>With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.</blockquote>The middle section of that quote would later form the guiding principle for the future Department of Veterans Affairs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-26 |title=Object 30: President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address - VA History |url=https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/object-30-lincolns-second-inaugural-address/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> | ||
While domiciliary care for Civil War veterans was managed by the National Home system at 11 various campuses, the pension benefits was split amongst various agencies in the federal government. Throughout the mid-to-late 19th Century, the [[Bureau of Pensions]] managed financial benefits to veterans, widows and dependent children. With the completion of the Civil War and an expansion of eligibility in 1890, pension numbers soared, from 303,000 to 966,000 in 1893.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Affairs |first=Department of Veterans |date=2023-03-21 |title=VA History Summary - Department of Veterans Affairs |url=https://department.va.gov/history/history-overview/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> Eventually the workforce had to be housed in a new purpose-built home, the [https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/object-12-pension-bureau-building/ Pension Bureau building], which housed the organization from 1885 to 1926.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-24 |title=VA History Summary |url=https://department.va.gov/history/history-overview/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=VA History Summary - Department of Veteran Affairs |language=en-US}}</ref> | While domiciliary care for Civil War veterans was managed by the National Home system at 11 various campuses, the pension benefits was split amongst various agencies in the federal government. Throughout the mid-to-late 19th Century, the [[Bureau of Pensions]] managed financial benefits to veterans, widows and dependent children. With the completion of the Civil War and an expansion of eligibility in 1890, pension numbers soared, from 303,000 to 966,000 in 1893.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Affairs |first=Department of Veterans |date=2023-03-21 |title=VA History Summary - Department of Veterans Affairs |url=https://department.va.gov/history/history-overview/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> Eventually the workforce had to be housed in a new purpose-built home, the [https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/object-12-pension-bureau-building/ Pension Bureau building], which housed the organization from 1885 to 1926.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-24 |title=VA History Summary |url=https://department.va.gov/history/history-overview/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=VA History Summary - Department of Veteran Affairs |language=en-US}}</ref> | ||