A time capsule filled with objects and historical materials provides a snapshot of a particular time and place. Buried within a building or memorial as it is constructed, the contents of the container offer a tangible connection between past and present. The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has documentation on the time capsules that were occasionally imbedded in national cemetery monuments. In 2010, however, masons working on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Togus National Cemetery, Maine, unexpectedly discovered one.
All cemeteries—designated as national cemeteries in 1973—affiliated with the eleven oldest branches of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) feature a prominent monument, typically in the shape of an obelisk, erected several years after the Civil War. The cemetery at the Eastern Branch-NHDVS in Togus lacked such a memorial, to the distress of Luther Stephenson, governor of the branch. About 2,000 Veterans resided at the home. A group of them took matters into their own hands and erected a 26-foot-tall granite-block obelisk in 1889. They built it using stone quarried on the grounds. The 1890 National Home annual report commended the outcome: “The monument is very handsome in its rough simplicity, and is a source of pride to the men.” What went unreported was that the builders placed a time capsule inside.
The copper box, measuring 10”x 7”x 3”, was found to contain regional newspapers, National Home annual reports, and photographs. Despite the soldered lead seams, water had infiltrated the box and much of the contents were unsalvageable. To the delight of NCA historians who examined the container, however, seven members of the National Home’s engineering office had proudly autographed the box’s paper lining with their names and information about their military service. Most had served in Civil War regiments from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York.
Also found within the monument were a green glass bottle with a rolled letter inside and the bowl of a smoking pipe. The National Cemetery Administration rededicated the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on September 15, 2010. Then-Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Steve Muro used the ceremony to place a new time capsule under the capstone for future generations to uncover. This watertight container is an ammo box that NCA historians painted “VA blue” and filled with newspapers, challenge coins, brochures about VA and NCA, and letters from VA leadership.
By Sara Amy Leach
Senior Historian, National Cemetery Administration
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Object 80: LUKE/DEKA Prosthetic Arm
In the 19th century, the federal government left the manufacture and distribution of prosthetic limbs for disabled Veterans to private enterprise. The experience of fighting two world wars in the first half of the 20th century led to a reversal in this policy.
In the interwar era, first the Veterans Bureau and then the Veterans Administration assumed responsibility for providing replacement limbs and medical care to Veterans.
In recent decades, another federal agency, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), has joined VA as a supporter of cutting-edge research into artificial limb technology. DARPA’s efforts were spurred by the spike in traumatic injuries resulting from the emergence of improvised explosive devices as the insurgent’s weapon of choice in Iraq in 2003-04.
Out of that effort came the LUKE/DEKA prosthetic limb, named after the main character from "Star Wars."
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 79: VA Study of Former Prisoners of War
American prisoners of war from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam faced starvation, torture, forced labor, and other abuses at the hands of their captors. For those that returned home, their experiences in captivity often had long-lasting impacts on their physical and mental health. Over the decades, the U.S. government sought to address their specific needs through legislation conferring special benefits on former prisoners of war.
In 1978, five years after the United States withdrew the last of its combat troops from South Vietnam, Congress mandated VA carry out a thorough study of the disability and medical needs of former prisoners of war. In consultation with the Secretary of Defense, VA completed the study in 14 months and published its findings in early 1980. Like previous investigations in the 1950s, the study confirmed that former prisoners of war had higher rates of service-connected disabilities.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 78: French Cross at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn
In the waning days of World War I, French sailors from three visiting allied warships marched through New York in a Liberty Loan Parade. The timing was unfortunate as the second wave of the influenza pandemic was spreading in the U.S. By January, 25 of French sailors died from the virus.
These men were later buried at the Cypress Hills National Cemetery and later a 12-foot granite cross monument, the French Cross, was dedicated in 1920 on Armistice Day. This event later influenced changes to burial laws that opened up availability of allied service members and U.S. citizens who served in foreign armies in the war against Germany and Austrian empires.
