Dear Editor: The VFW traces its roots back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure earned rights and benefits for their service. Many arrived home wounded or sick, and there were no medical care or veterans' pensions available to them and they were simply left to care for themselves. Some of these veterans formed organizations which would become known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, expanding to 200,000 members by 1936.