Soldiers and sailors homes,
Institutions provided by national and State governments for the care of sick and disabled soldiers and sailors.
The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers has branches at
Dayton, O.;
Milwaukee, Wis.;
Togus, Me.;
Hampton, Va.;
Leavenworth, Kan.;
Santa Monica, Cal.;
Marion, Ind., and
Danville, Ill. The aggregate number of inmates is about 27,000.
The requirements for admission are:
1. An honorable discharge from the
United States service.
2. Disability which prevents the applicant from earning his living by labor.
3. Applicants for admission will be required to stipulate and agree to abide by all the rules and regulations made by the board of managers, or by its order; to perform all duties required of them, and to obey all the lawful orders of the officers of the home.
Attention is called to the fact that by the law establishing the home the members are made subject to the rules and articles of war, and will be governed thereby in the same manner as if they were in the army of the United States.
4. A soldier or sailor must forward with his application for admission his discharge paper, and when he is a pensioner, his pension certificate, and if he has been a member of a State home, his discharge from that home, before his application will be considered; which papers will be retained at the branch to which the applicant is admitted, to be kept there for him, and returned to him when he is discharged.
This rule is adopted to prevent the loss of such papers and certificates, and to hinder fraudulent practices; and no application will be considered unless these papers are sent with it. If the original discharge does not exist, a copy of discharge, certified by the
War or Navy Department, or by the
adjutant-general of the
State, must accompany the application.
Soldiers or sailors whose pensions exceed $16 a month are not eligible to the home unless the reasons are peculiar, and are explained to the manager and are satisfactory to him. Those who have been members of State homes must have been discharged from those homes at least six months before they can be admitted to a branch of the
National Home, except by a vote of the board of managers.
There are State homes for disabled volunteer soldiers provided by the States of
California,
Colorado,
Connecticut,
Idaho,
Illinois,
Indiana,
Iowa,
Kansas,
Massachusetts,
Michigan,
Minnesota,
Missouri,
Montana,
Nebraska,
New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York,
North Dakota,
Ohio,
Oregon,
Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island,
South Dakota,
Vermont,
Washington, Wisconsin, and
Wyoming.
The
United States Soldiers Home in the District of Columbia receives and maintains discharged soldiers of the regular army.
All soldiers who have served twenty years as enlisted men in the army (including volunteer service, if any), and all soldiers of less than twenty years service who have incurred such disability, by wounds, disease, or injuries in the line of duty while in the regular army, as unfits them for further service, are entitled to the benefits of the home.
A pensioner who enters the home may assign his pension, or any part of it, to his child, wife, or parent, by filing written notice with the agent who pays him. If not so assigned, it is drawn by the treasurer of the home and held in trust for the pensioner, to whom it is paid in such sums as the commissioners deem proper while he is an inmate of the home, the balance being paid in full when he takes his discharge and leaves the home.
Inmates are subject to the rules and articles of war, the same as soldiers in the army.
They are comfortably lodged, fed, and clothed, and receive medical
[
248]
attendance and medicine, all without cost to them.
There are 1,250 men receiving the benefits of the home.
The board of commissioners consists of the
general-in-chief commanding the army, the
surgeon-general, the
commissary-general, the
adjutant-general, the
quartermaster-general, the
judge-advocate-general, and the governor of the home.
Applications for admission to the home may be addressed to the Board of Commissioners, Soldiers Home, War Department,
Washington, D. C., and must give date of enlistment and date of discharge, with letter of company and number of regiment for each and every term of service, and rate of pension, if any, and must be accompanied by a medical certificate showing nature and degree of disability if any exists.
