World War I Rehabilitation World War I, like the Civil War, enlarged the population of disabled men and taught doctors new methods for helping them. In the postwar years, the disabled veteran took a special place among people with disabilities, again, as he had after the Civil War. The disabled veteran was not seen in popular culture as a partial or limited person as most other people with disabilities were. He had been whole and virile before his injury, and was cut down in the prime of his youth. Because his loss was sustained fighting for his country, in "making the world safe for democracy," the disabled veteran had a special claim to our pity and benevolence. That claim resulted in federal investment in rehabilitation. http://www.npr.org/programs/disability/ba_shows.dir/work.dir/highlights/ww1.html
