Conference of Officers in Charge of Government Hospitals Serving Veterans of…

This is a primary historical document capturing a pivotal moment in American healthcare for veterans. In January 1922, military medical officials and hospital administrators convened in Washington, D.C. to address the overwhelming challenge of caring for World War I veterans returning with both visible wounds and invisible psychological injuries. The proceedings document the early, often fragmented efforts to coordinate care across military and civilian medical systems, establish standardized treatments for what was then called "shell shock," and create infrastructure for what would eventually become the modern Veterans Administration. The text reveals both the bureaucratic struggles and the genuine humanitarian concern of officials attempting to serve thousands of traumatized young men in a system never designed for such scale. For historians, researchers, and anyone interested in the origins of American veteran care or the early understanding of combat trauma, this volume offers an unfiltered window into how a nation first confronted the medical aftermath of modern industrial warfare.