History of VA in 100 Objects

In June 1941, Charles Ray Smith—aviation mechanic, Army Veteran, and past commander of the American Legion post in Gridley, California—died suddenly after a surgical procedure at age 52. His brothers and young son had the body cremated at the new columbarium at what is now Los Angeles National Cemetery.

The Don Ce-Sar Hotel has graced the Gulf of Mexico beachfront in St. Petersburg, Florida, for almost a century. Known as the Pink Palace for its rosy hue and castle-like appearance, the property was a playground for the rich and famous during its heyday in the 1930s.

The massive mobilization of industry and manpower with the United States’ entry into World War II lifted the nation out of the Great Depression. But even as the country enjoyed new heights of economic prosperity, American leaders worried about what would happen after the war. In 1942, Roosevelt formed two separate committees to focus specifically on programs to assist returning Veterans and one produced the GI Bill of Rights.

The 1867 “Act to establish and to protect National Cemeteries” directed the Secretary of War to appoint a superintendent for each cemetery who was to reside in a lodge at the main entrance of the property. The superintendent’s principal duties involved greeting visitors, answering their questions, and taking care of the grounds. The Army provided superintendents with printed disability certificates affirming that the recipient had “been found a meritorious and trustworthy person, disabled in the service of the United States.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

VA national cemeteries contain numerous memorials honoring the service members who became prisoners of war (POW) or went missing in action (MIA) from the Revolutionary War to the present.

On December 11, 2020, the U.S. government authorized the emergency use of the first COVID-19 vaccine.