The country was slow to recognize the need for veterans’ services, even to its first soldiers.

Dave Faries here, sharing one of my favorite passages from a rare memoir. 

Few veterans of the Continental Army paused in their later years to reflect in print on their service during the American Revolution. But Joseph Plumb Martin left us with a vivid account of the “Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings” of private soldiers under George Washington’s command.

A portion of his account of fighting at Monmouth in 1778 stands out for its humanity. “They were retreating in line, though in some disorder,” he recalled of the British foe. “I singled out a man and took aim directly between his shoulders. He was a good mark, being a broad-shouldered fellow. What became of him I know not; the fire and smoke hid him from my sight. One thing I know, that is, I took as deliberate aim at him as ever I did at any game in my life. But after all, I hope I did not kill him, although I intended to at the time.”

Toward the end of the memoir, Martin points out—unnecessarily, it would seem—that he “was never killed in the army.” He was wounded, however. In later years he apparently had the capacity to take the memory of the experience in stride. Some veterans are disabled, physically, mentally or both. Others settle with greater ease into civilian life.

According to the California Department of Veterans Affairs, there are 13,948 veterans currently residing in Monterey County, down from 19,255 in 2013. A breakdown from the 2020 census shows that 3,659 county residents served during the second round of fighting in the Gulf, 3,050 in the 1990s Gulf War, 4,382 during the Vietnam era and 1,070 in the Korean War era. In 2020, there were still 132 residents who served during World War II.

The 2020 census reported that 29 percent of local veterans listed a disability. That’s a sizable number of men and women in need of support. Fortunately, there are a number of local organizations assisting with access to benefits and resources for veterans, as well as a veterans crisis line. Unfortunately, that level of support came only grudgingly to Americans who served.

Although big improvements in care came after the Civil War, the “Bonus Army” incident of 1932 is an example of the slow progression. In 1924, with the postwar economy chugging along, Congress approved a bonus for the men who fought in the Great War—to be doled out in 1945, which led some to label it the “Tombstone Bonus.” At the height of the Depression, more than 10,000 veterans descended on Washington, D.C., demanding an early payment of the money. Not only did elected officials refuse (President Herbert Hoover promised to veto any bill to the effect), they also sent troops—led by Douglas MacArthur—to oust them completely, setting fire to their shanties. By that point, Hoover had already insinuated that the men were not veterans, but communists and criminals.

Four years later, Congress approved payment of the bonus. In 1944, the government launched the G.I. Bill, providing a slate of benefits to veterans of World War II and beyond. It was a start.

One unusual benefit offered to the men who fought in the War of 1812 was land grants—160 acres in sections set aside largely in the Midwest. I grew up in a land grant county, with both town and county named for figures from that war, General Alexander Macomb and Commodore Thomas McDonough. (There had been previous grants offered to Revolutionary soldiers).

Back to the then-aging Pvt. Martin. In 1818, Congress extended the pension to include veterans in financial need. He applied and received $8 a month, equivalent to just under $200 today. 

Most people at the time thought veterans undeserving of such a generous “handout.”

“Many murmur now at the apparent good fortune of the poor soldiers,” Martin wrote. “Many I have myself seen, vile enough to say that [veterans] never deserved such favor from the country. The only wish I would bestow upon such hardhearted wretches is that they might be compelled to go through just such sufferings and privations as that army did.”

Today many will point out that we’re still not doing enough.