ision from the US Government they fought to protect. His words are basically the origination of the concept of benefits for veterans, and it was opposed heavily by some who felt that it should not include soldiers who had not been disabled or wounded but Monroe prevailed, “Monroe noted that many of them had already paid the debt of nature and gone to repose, but that among the survivors, there are some not provided for by the existing laws, who are reduced to indigence, and even to real distress. The country would honor itself to provide for them, the President added, warming that with the passage of a few years more, the opportunity will be forever lost. In short, James Monroe sought a great and important change, in the very concept of providing veterans’ benefits,” (Severo and Milford, 1989: 85).
The Civil War was perhaps responsible for some of the biggest changes and improvements in the welfare benefits system for US soldiers. Early benefits cons
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