History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 44: Bureau of War Risk Insurance Occupation of Smithsonian Museum
When World War I erupted in Europe in August 1914, the United States stayed neutral but the nation quickly became a major supplier of industrial and agricultural goods to France and England. To protect this valuable trade, Congress established the Bureau of War Risk Insurance (BWRI) within the Treasury Department to insure American ships and cargo “against loss or damage by the risks of war.”
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 43: Nurse Recruiting Poster
After World War II, the Veterans Administration faced a dire shortage of nurses. During the war, thousands of nurses and doctors left their positions in VA hospitals to join the armed forces. In early 1944 VA Administrator General Frank T. Hines reported a shortfall of roughly 1,000 nurses in 88 of the VA’s 94 hospitals.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 42: Pension Bureau Special Examiners
The pension system expanded enormously after the Civil War. The number of Union Veterans, widows, and dependents drawing a pension from the federal government rose from 15,000 in 1863 to over 200,000 in 1871. The soaring size and costs of the pension system raised concerns about the prevalence of fraud, which the Pension Bureau aimed to stop with special examiners.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 41: Creating the Department of Veterans Affairs
On November 10, 1987, President Ronald W. Reagan declared he would support legislation elevating the Veterans Administration to a cabinet department, creating the Department of Veterans Affairs. The news caught his advisors off-guard.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 40: Dayton’s Tunnel – “Underground Path of Death”
The Civil War Veterans who resided in the barracks or entered the hospital at the Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) in Dayton, Ohio, knew that the home cemetery was most likely going to be their final resting place. a Veteran’s last journey, reported the Cincinnati Enquirer, followed a literal “underground path of death." Dayton's Tunnel terminated at a gated portal on the edge of what is now Dayton National Cemetery.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 39: Here’s To Veterans vinyl records
As World War II ended and millions of service members returned home, the Veterans Administration faced the major challenge of not just delivering benefits and medical care, but also ensuring broad public awareness of these programs. The VA Public Relations office in Washington took on that challenge. And, so, Here’s To Veterans was born.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 36: President Clinton’s Fiftieth Anniversary of V-J Day Speech at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
The scarcity of presidential appearances at VA cemeteries makes President Clinton’s speech at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, more popularly known as the Punchbowl, on September 2, 1995, particularly noteworthy.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 34: President Zachary Taylor’s Well-Traveled Remains
Three burial vaults, two funeral processions a thousand miles apart, and a daytrip to quash an assertion of foul play–the remains of Zachary Taylor, the only U.S. president laid to rest in a VA national cemetery, have taken an especially tortuous path to their resting place in Louisville, Kentucky.
History of VA in 100 Objects
Object 33: The Million Veteran Program
In May 2009, twelve VA doctors and scientists gathered in a small conference room in Rockville, Maryland, to brainstorm about the design of VA’s first-ever large-scale genetic research program, the Million Veteran Program. They wanted to collect medical information from Veterans along with blood samples to extract DNA, with the goal of creating a genomic biobank or database for researchers to explore how genes affect health and disease