Abstract
The United States’ entry into the First World War prompted progressives to reform veterans’ entitlements in the hopes of creating a system insulated from corruption and capable of rehabilitating disabled veterans into productive members of society. The replacement of pensions with medical care for wounded and disabled soldiers through the Reconstruction Hospital System was originally intended as a temporary measure but resulted in establishing the foundations of the modern veterans’ health care system. Yet, these reforms would not have been possible without the support from the community of war veterans to which these reforms applied. By examining the communal values expressed in publications produced by and for soldiers, this paper explores the ways in which the Great War’s veteran community expressed agency in the process of reforming the US veteran entitlements.
Highlights
In December 1918, President Woodrow Wilson traveled to France aboard the USS George Washington to take part in peace conferences to end the Great War
For that structure to stand, it needed a strong foundation, which was formed in the communities of veterans of an often-overlooked phase of the First World War
107 (4) October 2019 jmla.mlanet.org publications produced by and for soldiers, this paper explores the ways in which the Great War’s veteran community expressed agency in the process of reforming the US veteran
Summary
See end of article for author’s affiliation. Editor’s note: This paper is the winner of the 2019 Erich Meyerhoff Prize, which is awarded annually for the best unpublished scholarly paper about a topic in the history of the health sciences and underwent editorial review by the Journal of the Medical Library Association. The United States’ entry into the First World War prompted progressives to reform veterans’ entitlements in the hopes of creating a system insulated from corruption and capable of rehabilitating disabled veterans into productive members of society. The replacement of pensions with medical care for wounded and disabled soldiers through the Reconstruction Hospital System was originally intended as a temporary measure but resulted in establishing the foundations of the modern veterans’ health care system. These reforms would not have been possible without the support from the community of war veterans to which these reforms applied. By examining the communal values expressed in publications produced by and for soldiers, this paper explores the ways in which the Great War’s veteran community expressed agency in the process of reforming the US veteran entitlements
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