Veterans Affairs Regional Offices
Veterans Affairs is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the country. Non-healthcare benefits include disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and life insurance. The VA also provides burial and memorial benefits to eligible veterans and family members at 135 national cemeteries.
Department of Veterans ServicesThe history and evolution of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are inextricably intertwined and dependent on the history of America's wars, as wounded soldiers are the population the VA cares for. The list of wars involving the United States from the American Revolutionary War to the present totals ninety-nine wars. The majority of the United States military casualties of war, however, occurred in the following eight wars:
- American Revolutionary War (est. 8000),
- American Civil War (218,222),
- World War I (53,402),
- World War II (291,567),
- Korean War (33,686),
- Vietnam War (47,424),
- Iraq War (3,836), and the
- War in Afghanistan (1,833).
It is these wars that have primarily driven the mission and evolution of the VA. The VA maintains a detailed list of war wounded, as it is this population that comprises the VA care system. Veterans benefits help Veterans and their families buy homes, earn degrees, start careers, stay healthy, and more.
