World War II

The Memphis VA Medical Center was officially renamed the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VAMC after the Memphis native and Tuskegee Airman who served in World War II and was the city's first African American air traffic controller.

The Congressional Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest decoration for valor in the military. More than 1,000 have been awarded, and 98 of those recipients worked at VA. A wall display outside VA's Under Secretary for Benefits in Washington, D.C. pays tribute to each of those individuals, whose stories are tied to the legacy of Veterans serving Veterans.

In 2019, VA’s National Cemetery Administration (NCA) launched  the Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM), an innovative, interactive web site with memorial pages for more than 4.5 million Veterans. VLM utilizes the millions of records contained within NCA’s Burial Operations Support System database. Each Veteran’s memorial page is populated with information about his or her military service and place of burial.

Frank Hines was the longest tenured VA leader, from 1923 until 1945 and end of World War II. He led two different Veteran agencies, first the Veterans Bureau and then the Veterans Administration. Despite constant challenges and changes to the system, he was a stable leader for a new federal agency.

Edith Nourse Rogers was a trailblazing politician and prominent proponent for Veterans benefits. She accomplished much in her decades-long career - to include admitting women into military service and creating a G.I. Bill of Rights.

The creation of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942 allowed women for the first time to serve with the Army in non-nursing roles. Life Magazine reported on the first group of WAAC officer candidates and auxiliaries going through training in a lengthy photo essay that highlighted the women's professionalism and patriotism.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Dayton Bible highlights the important role that religious faith and chaplains played in the lives of the National Home residents as well as later generations of Veterans.