Providing opportunity for our veterans

In October 1988, the Cold War was still simmering. World War II was just a generation ago, fresh in many veterans’ minds and in the hearts of families who lost their parents and grandparents in the conflict. More recently, many Americans had fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and many returned home in need of health care and in search of employment.

October 1988 was the month President Ronald Reagan signed the Department of Veterans Affairs Act, which transformed the independent Veterans Administration agency into a Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs. Congress recognized the gove...