THREE FORKS HISTORY: Hospital focused on Great War veterans
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Jul. 20—World War I, known at the time as the Great War, was a beginning of modern warfare. New weapons launched in this conflict were particularly vicious and devastating to the soldiers who fought in its trenches. American soldiers returned home with lungs burned by mustard gas and limbs destroyed by bombs. The nation faced a great need for health care for our veterans.
At the time, Muskogee and northeast Oklahoma was represented in Congress by a great advocate for veterans. Alice Robertson served only one term, but during her time in office she introduced legislation to establish a Soldiers Hospital in Oklahoma. To ensure that this hospital would be located in her hometown, she donated land for it from her farm atop Agency Hill.
The state of Oklahoma built Soldiers Memorial Hospital at a cost of $500,000. The facility was completed in 1923 and dedicated on Flag Day, June 14. In its first year of operation, the 25-bed hospital served about 1,500 veterans from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. It employed 165 healthcare workers.
In its first two years, the state leased the facility to the federal government. Then in 1925, the federal administration took ownership of the hospital which had an operational budget of nearly $500,000.
In that same year, the medical facility placed a Doughboy statue at its entrance. Though many such statues exist, the Muskogee statue is the only one dedicated to Native American veterans of World War I. This Doughboy represents members of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole nations.
When the Veterans Administration (VA) was created in 1930, the hospital was renamed and became the Veterans Administration Hospital. It was renamed again in 2006 for a Muskogee veteran of World War II.
Jack Montgomery was Cherokee and a recipient of two Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars and the Medal of Honor. The Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center was the first in the nation to be named for a Native American.
Reach Jonita Mullins at jonita.mullins@gmail.com.
