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The Veterans Administration was finding out that the VA home loan, and other benefits, would require reevaluation as the different wars and conflicts ramped down. What worked after WWI would not necessarily work after WWII and Korea.
At the end of World War II, General Omar Bradley was picked as the new administrator for the VA. His experiences during WWII particularly positioned him to be able to see the needs of returning soldiers – especially in the area of medical benefits and VA home loans and vocational training. The nature of the war and the unprecedented number of servicemen and women resulted in a quantum leap in those eligible for benefits. The demobilization of troops from the eastern and western fronts swelled the ranks of veterans to over 15 million. This was not a gradual increase. It all happened in a few months.
It took a planner and an administrator like General Bradley to successfully weather the storm. He was not a "retired" general looking for something to do. Bradley was still a soldier and many looked at him as the soldier's general. He had always put the needs of his troops in the forefront, and he continued this approach during his tenure as chief of the Veterans Administration. He recognized the importance of assisting "his" troops in gaining the help they needed for education and Veteran Home Loans.
When he left the VA, Bradley went back to doing what he did best – leading troops. This time he was leading all the troops as Army Chief of Staff. During his tenure, the VA staff experienced tremendous growth to be able to handle all of the requests for benefits that came as a result of the end of World War II. For the first time, the VA began to partner with research hospitals to develop new and better treatment protocols for injured soldiers. They also added a number of field offices to position themselves to offer faster service to those soldiers looking for medical, educational, and VA Loans.
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