VA News – In 1978, five years after the United States withdrew the last of its combat troops from South Vietnam, Congress mandated VA carry out a thorough study of the disability and medical needs of former prisoners of war.
American service members taken prisoner in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam faced starvation, torture, forced labor, and other abuses at the hands of their captors.
Over the decades, the U.S. government sought to address their specific needs through legislation conferring special benefits on former prisoners of war.
