Today is Veteran’s Day. November 11. World War I stopped on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. A clever play on words and no doubt the generals though it a memorable moment but given the slaughter in the trenches why not stop sooner?

Old Soldiers' Home in Washington, D. C.

Old Soldiers' Home in Washington, D. C.

Thinking about Veteran’s Day led me to wonder about veterans health and old age and that thought wandered over to “Whatever happened to the Old Soldiers’ Home?” Was that even a real place?

So turning to Google…

The Old Solders’ home was established in 1851 by an act of Congress and initially paid for from funds Gen. Winfield Scott extorted from the Mexican government for not sacking Mexico City after occupying it in 1848 (http://www.defense.gov/specials/heroes/history1.html).

Now called the Armed Forces Retirement Home, it still exists and 1,300 old soldiers, men and women veterans, live there today (https://www.afrh.gov/afrh/about/about.htm). The original home in Washington, D. C. has been expanded and modernized and another home was established in Gulfport, Georgia.

Uncle Sam only required my services for four years so I don’t qualify to live there, but if one meets the criteria, it’s nice to know such a place still exists.