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Veterans Affairs leaders are changing the department’s mission statement from the current male-only focus to be more welcoming to women Veterans.
The current motto – in use by VA and the Veterans Administration since 1959 – is based on an excerpt from President Lincoln’s second inaugural address: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise ‘to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan’ by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s Veterans”. It’s displayed prominently at about half of all VA hospitals, cemeteries and office buildings across the country.
The new motto will still be based on Lincoln’s words but instead reads: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
The use of male-specific language in the original mission statement has long drawn criticism from Veterans advocates who note that women Veterans are the fastest growing cohort of the community, expected to make up one in every five living Veterans in America by 2040.