Ungrateful Bodies: Rehabilitation, Resistance and Disabled American Veterans of the First World War

Abstract

In the United States, rehabilitating disabled veterans generated new systems of medical, military and social management. The Reconstruction Division of the War Department as well as volunteer organisations conducted campaigns to educate not just veterans but the public too, in the role and benefit of rehabilitation, creating powerful discourses to accompany the new systems. Close collaboration between military and voluntary sectors disseminated the discourse of ‘overcoming disability’ in the public domain. Postwar reconstruction was hinged to an ideal that prewar normalcy could be restored. Whilst surgeons, rehabilitators and policy-makers attempted this with disabled soldiers under their care, they encountered resistance from veterans. Some men felt that the focus on employment retraining was at the expense of convalescence; others argued that provisions were inadequate. Disabled veterans often conceptualised the idea of ‘physical restoration’ more fully than governments and rehabilitators. Physical remedy was not just crucial in relieving pain, but also implicated a veteran's sense of self and belief in his future. This paper argues that although successful recovery was measured by the extent to which the disabled were grateful for treatment and retraining, veterans could be critical and resistant.