January 29, 1919 – Official US Bulletin Published with Rules for Helping Disabled WWI Veterans

During World War I, some 224,000 soldiers suffered injuries, including approximately 100,000 who were discharged for psychological issues. The Library of Congress reports that by 1921, approximately 9,000 veterans had undergone treatment for psychological disability in veterans’ hospitals.

At the time, there wasn’t a government agency dedicated to veteran’s affairs, and responsibilities for veterans were scattered among several agencies. On January 29, 1919, this day in history, the US War Department and the Office of the Surgeon General published “Rules for the Discharge of Disabled US Soldiers.”

The document began by stating:

It is the policy of the War Department to retain, so far as practicable under military control, for the purpose of medical and surgical treatment (a) officers and soldiers suffering from acute diseases or acute exacerbations of chronic diseases or unhealed lesions; (b) officers and soldiers suffering from communicable diseases or who are ‘carriers,’ whose discharge would be a danger to the civil community; (c) officers and soldiers suffering from disabilities incurred in the line of duty which are correctible within their terms of service or enlistment; (d) officers and soldiers suffering from chronic or permanent disabilities incurred in the line of duty, which are susceptible of improvement by measures for mental or physical reconstruction designed to fit them for return to their homes, for the resumption of their former vocations, or, with their consent, for the industrial opportunities or the training courses provided by the Federal Board for Vocational Education.”

In spite of the government’s good intentions, as the Gilda Lehrman Institute points out:

. . . disabled veterans were overwhelmed with confusing paperwork to fill out. Many WWI veterans faced unemployment, poor housing conditions, and inadequate medical care. As a result, veterans and other Americans founded organizations like the Disabled American Veterans of the World War and the American Legion to support and fight for the rights of disabled veterans. Their efforts led Congress to establish the US Veterans Bureau in 1921, which was a precursor to the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

You can read the text of the official bulletin here.