The United Spanish War Veterans was an American veterans organization which consisted of veterans of the Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection and China Relief Expedition.
Soon after the Spanish-American War ended, in early 1899, discharged veterans formed fraternal societies to keep in touch with their former comrades. These included the Spanish War Veterans, the Spanish-American War Veterans, the Servicemen of the Spanish War, American Veterans of Foreign Service, the Army of the Philippines, the Veteran Army of the Philippines, the Legion of Spanish War Veterans and other smaller organizations.
At the start of the 20th century, these groups began to merge. In 1904, the three largest groups, the Spanish War Veterans, the Spanish American War Veterans and the Servicemen of the Spanish War joined to form the United Spanish War Veterans. They became the largest and most influential of the Spanish-American War societies. In 1906, the Legion of Spanish War Veterans would merge with the United Spanish War Veterans. The Legion existed in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
In 1908, the Veteran Army of the Philippines, composed of soldiers, sailors and Marines who had served in the Philippine Islands, also merged with the United Spanish War Veterans.
The membership of United Spanish War Veterans thus consisted of veterans of three distinct wars:
- Spanish-American War - April 1898 to February 1899 (The fighting had ended by July 1898, but the Treaty of Peace was not signed until February 6, 1899.)
- Philippine Insurrection. February 1899 to July 1902 (This was a conflict with Filipinos who refused to accept the annexation of the islands by the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt declared the conflict at an end on July 4, 1902, though violence by Moro tribesmen continued until 1913.)
- Chinese Relief Expedition. 1900 to 1901.
(Commonly called “The Boxer Rebellion,” the veterans who had served in it were placed with the Spanish War and Philippine Insurrection veterans on the federal government pension bills. The “Boxer Rebellion” veterans were accepted into the USWV in the early 1920s.)
The United Spanish War Veterans existed until 1992, when the last member, Nathan E. Cook, died one month before his 107th birthday at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. He is often incorrectly called the last surviving veteran of the Spanish-American War. In fact, Cook was a veteran of the Philippine Insurrection of 1899-1902. He had lied about his age to enlist in the US Navy in 1901 at age sixteen.
Famous quotes containing the words united, spanish, war and/or veterans:
“The boys dressed themselves, hid their accoutrements, and went off grieving that there were no outlaws any more, and wondering what modern civilization could claim to have done to compensate for their loss. They said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President of the United States forever.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“The Bermudas are said to have been discovered by a Spanish ship of that name which was wrecked on them.... Yet at the very first planting of them with some sixty persons, in 1612, the first governor, the same year, “built and laid the foundation of eight or nine forts.” To be ready, one would say, to entertain the first ship’s company that should be next shipwrecked on to them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“From the beginning, the placement of [Clarence] Thomas on the high court was seen as a political end justifying almost any means. The full story of his confirmation raises questions not only about who lied and why, but, more important, about what happens when politics becomes total war and the truth—and those who tell it—are merely unfortunate sacrifices on the way to winning.”
—Jane Mayer, U.S. journalist, and Jill Abramson b. 1954, U.S. journalist. Strange Justice, p. 8, Houghton Mifflin (1994)
“[Veterans] feel disappointed, not about the 1914-1918 war but about this war. They liked that war, it was a nice war, a real war a regular war, a commenced war and an ended war. It was a war, and veterans like a war to be a war. They do.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)