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In 1946, a little number of veterans who'd obtained spinal cord injuries on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific all through World War II created an organization called Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. The government issued wheelchairs to these heroes but they had little else: no suitable housing to live in, no transportation to maneuver around in and no ramps to get into the corner shop.

They worked together in those early decades, and by 1948 they persuaded Congress to pass laws giving paraplegic veterans with one-time grants toward a wheelchair-accessible home and an especially equipped car. A few years later, some of those war veterans helped to publish the initial design standard requiring entry for wheelchair users in new public buildings.

Selflessly, some 40 years later, their leaders lent their voices to the groundswell of support for the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

After 60 years, we, now called United Spinal Association, has greatly extended our mission to incorporate everybody with spinal cord disabilities nationwide, but our commitment to veterans has never been stronger. For instance, last year we helped get essential legislation passed providing you with much-needed painful damage insurance to your wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

We send qualified company officers straight to VA hospitals to discover what our veterans need and to help them make an application for, and to receive, their veterans benefits. We strongly represent their interests before the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C., and we sponsor numerous entertainment events and athletic games to help wounded veterans adjust to civilian life. We also helped account two renowned spinal-cord research services located at veterans hospitals.

With our roots operating to veterans, we've become the fastest-growing business in the country focused on helping people with spinal cord disabilities. oakdale heights of la mesa