THE FIRST ARMISTICE DAY, on Nov. 11, 1919, marked the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I, what many proclaimed, with an optimism that turned out to be wildly misplaced, “the war to end all wars.”

It became a U.S. national holiday in 1938 and in 1954 was renamed Veterans Day to honor all veterans. With the end of the draft and the passing of the World War II generation, military service is not the common denominator in American life it once was.

There are currently 23.2 million veterans, down from a peak of 28.6 million in 1980. There is no danger of those numbers dwindling to a point where the nation begins to overlook its veterans. We spend generously on them — over $84 billion last year, mainly for pensions and medical benefits — and will continue to do so.

But as the scandalous treatment of the wounded undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center showed, bureaucracies can move in fits and starts. That’s why it’s encouraging that the Obama administration — specifically Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Defense Secretary Robert Gates — have undertaken several worthwhile initiatives.

The two pledged to attack the cumbersome and maddeningly complex paperwork needed to process veterans’ disability claims that have created a huge backlog at the VA. And they have doubled the funding for treatment of the side effects of the nature of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan — traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues.

Shinseki has also vowed to end veterans’ homelessness in five years. There are an estimated 130,000 homeless vets. That’s down substantially from 195,000 six years ago, but Shinseki doesn’t believe any should be out on the streets.

He proposes to attack the problem by preventing veterans from becoming homeless in the first place.

Sunday, President Barack Obama signed an executive order intended to ramp up the federal government’s employment of veterans across its agencies. And Congress has passed a law to make the VA’s funding more secure and predictable, rather than leaving it to the lawmakers’ mood swings. Heretofore, Congress had been late with the VA’s budget in 20 of the last 23 years.

Veterans complain, with some justification, that publicity about veterans tends to focus on those with problems. America’s post-World War II economic boom was fired by the millions returning from the armed services with new skills, confidence, discipline and the ability to work with others and within an organization. Today’s newly minted vets are no different.

Scripps Howard News Service