It's the Brian Larry Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. Now we continue our WNYC

Centennial series, 100 Years of 100 Things. And for this Veterans Day, it's thing number 39, 100 years of how we treat our veterans,

roughly from World War I, which was a turning point in this history, to the present.

By how we treat our veterans, we mean the benefits they're granted from the government upon

completing their service, especially on the front lines of war, benefits they're granted from the government upon completing their service,

especially on the front lines of war, how they're received by the broader society, how well

they're set up to heal physically and emotionally from the horrific experience of war and return to

civilian life. I'm also interested in how decisions about going to war are shaped or not by the life experiences

veterans have to share.

With me now is James Ridgeway.

He's a partner at the law firm of Bergman and Moore, LLC, based in Maryland, which focuses

on what they call providing quality representation to veterans and their families.

He's also adjunct professor of Veterans Law at George Washington University and author of the

textbook, Veterans Law, Cases, and Theory.

James, thanks for some time on Veterans Day, which must be very important to you.

Welcome to WNYC.

Oh, thank you for having me. This is the type of thing I always do on Veterans Day,

try and get out and spread the word about the system.

Well, I'm so glad. And let's actually start with veterans of the Civil War.

Was that a turning point in establishing veterans' benefits of any kind?

And how are they experienced

those veteran benefits after World War I?

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