‘Let us never rush into war’

“We are dealing with veterans, not procedures—with their problems, not ours.” —General Omar Bradley, First Administrator of the Veterans Administration

Obama: ‘Move Heaven and Earth’ to Care for Disabled Vets

October 5 2014 - Dedication of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial - Washington DC

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan" - President Lincoln

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2014 – With the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, the nation commemorates for the first time the two battles disabled veterans have fought -- the battle “over there” and the battle at home -- the battle to recover, President Barack Obama said today during the dedication ceremony.

Congress approved the building of the memorial with the passage of Public Law 106-348. In October 2000 President Bill Clinton signed the federal legislation into law, authorizing the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation Inc. to establish the memorial.

The foundation was created to educate the public on issues related to disabled veterans. The memorial will provide a place of healing and unity and a point of education for remembering disabled veterans after their wars are over.

A moment that shapes a lifetime

“To all our disabled veterans, our extraordinary wounded warriors, we gather … on this gorgeous autumn day in America because each of you endured a moment that shaped the arc of your lives and that speaks to our debt as a nation,” Obama told those gathered for the dedication.

“Maybe it was there on the battlefield as the bullets and shrapnel rained down around you. Maybe it was as you lay there, the medics tending to your wounds. Perhaps it was days or months later, in that hospital room when you finally came to. Perhaps it was years later as you went about your day, or in the midnight hour when the memories came rushing back like a flood,” the president said. read more>>>

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." - Abraham Lincoln

President Obama Speaks at the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial Dedication

Memorial honoring wounded veterans dedicated

Thousands Attend Opening of First Memorial for Disabled Veterans in Washington, D.C.

"If military action is worth our troops’ blood, it should be worth our treasure, too" "not just in the abstract, but in the form of a specific ante by every American." -Andrew Rosenthal 10 Feb. 2013