The Texas Veterans Land Board — Veterans and the GLO in the 20th Century and Onward
The General Land Office has a long history of working with and caring for the military Veterans of Texas. During the nineteenth century, the General Land Office used bounty and donation land grants to pay soldiers (or their heirs) for their service in the Texas Revolution, and also as a reward for participating in specific battles. Land was also granted to indigent Veterans or widows of the Civil War through the Confederate Scrip Voucher program. During the twentieth century, these efforts evolved into a new means to reward Texas’ Veterans: the Texas Veterans Land Board.
“…the suggestion will be indulged that our National and State Governments should consider earnestly the matter of requisitioning these large land holdings upon terms deemed fair to the owners, and turn them to the use of such soldier boys as would be inclined to occupy them.”
This short statement appeared in a section of GLO Commissioner J.T. Robison’s 1916–1918 biennial report to the Texas Legislature.[1] Whilst World War I was raging in Europe, the Commissioner floated the idea of using land to assist returning Veterans from the Great War. Robison’s idea was one with some precedent; however, his idea of aid for returning soldiers did not gain any legislative traction during the duration of World War I, and the idea was shelved.
Like most of American society, the GLO was deeply affected after the US entered World War II in 1941. In his 1940–1942 report to the Legislature, Commissioner J. Bascom Giles paid “tribute to our fighting men” and listed each of the 50 GLO employees who left the agency to answer the call of duty.[2] In his next biennial report, Giles was even more effusive of his praise for the men and women who served.[3] By this time, the number of GLO employees who left to serve had climbed to 70 with, unfortunately, two casualties.
In 1945, legislation was circulating to provide aid to the thousands of Texas World War II Veterans. Giles was extremely enthusiastic about this legislation and by the end of the session, a bill was passed to put forward a Constitutional Amendment to the public.[4] If approved, it would create a fund for the purchase of land for resale to Veterans of World War II at very low-interest rates and generous repayment schedules. Based on extremely positive feedback from the public, Giles confidently predicted the Constitutional Amendment would be “adopted by the people by a large majority vote and it is my plan to present a proposal for enabling legislation to the 50th Legislature” when they voted on November 7th, 1946.[5]
Giles was absolutely right. The voters approved the Constitutional Amendment authorizing the creation of a $25 million fund by a very large margin.[6] Two and a half years later on June 6, 1949, the fifth anniversary of D-Day, the Texas Veteran’s Land Board (VLB) was officially appointed to administer the new program. Initially, the VLB was comprised of the Commissioner of the GLO, the Governor, and the Attorney General.[7] Subsequent amendments in 1951 and 1967 increased the level of the fund to $100 million and extended benefits to Veterans who served after 1945 in response to the Korean War and the Vietnam War.[8]
Sadly, however, the early history of the VLB was marred by scandal. Giles, who earnestly advocated for the program, was convicted of organizing a scheme to defraud the fund. In 1954, just five years after the creation of the VLB, Kenneth Towery, himself a World War II Veteran, former prisoner-of-war, and a journalist, won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the scheme in the Cuero Record, a small-town newspaper. The scheme could not have been possible without Giles acting as the “inside man.” The fallout of the ongoing scandal resulted in Giles not assuming office in 1955 despite winning that year’s election, thus ending the career of a long-time GLO employee who was tragically unable to resist temptation.[9] Giles was convicted on July 28, 1955, and served three years of a six-year sentence in the State Penitentiary at Huntsville.[10]
It was a notable Veteran who stepped up to the job of rehabilitating the image of both the GLO and the VLB, which was at a very low point after the scandal. A highly decorated Veteran of both D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, retired Major General James Earl Rudder assumed the office of Commissioner of the GLO on January 1, 1955, and began at once to reform internal policies to ensure accountability and transparency.[11] Slowly he earned back the trust of the public and he easily won election as Commissioner of the GLO in 1956. That a Veteran uncovered the scandal and another saved the program seems appropriate, as the VLB went on to become a highly-rated program that still exists to this day.
The Texas Veterans Land Board carries on the tradition set by the founders of the Republic of Texas by honoring Texas Veterans with land. While the mechanisms in place to provide benefits to Veterans are different than they were shortly after the Texas Revolution, the intent is the same — to honor those who would fight for Texas, and sacrifice so much.
Today, the VLB provides numerous services to Texas Veterans and their families. It offers access to low-interest land, home, and home improvement loans to Texas Veterans and military members to help improve their lives and the lives of their families once they return home. The VLB also oversees the operation of eight Texas State Veterans Homes throughout the state which provide affordable, long-term skilled nursing care for Texas Veterans, their spouses, and Gold Star parents in a caring, dignified environment. It manages four Texas State Veterans Cemeteries in Abilene, Corpus Christi, Killeen, and Mission that honor the lives of Texas Veterans and military members, while assisting their families at their time of need. Finally, the VLB operates the Voices of Veterans Oral History Program, which seeks to record the stories of Texas Veterans and archive the transcripts for future researchers, historians, genealogists, and the general public. For more information visit VoicesofVeterans.org.
In all of these endeavors and more, the Texas General Land Office, Texas Veterans Land Board, and state lawmakers are dedicated to continuing the tradition of serving Texas Veterans who have made sacrifices to serve Texas and the United States.
To help Veterans, military members, and their families understand and access the state and federal benefits available to them, the VLB operates a state-wide call service center Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 5:30pm — at 1–800–252-VETS (8387). You can also find more information online at TexasVeterans.com.
[1] Robison, J.T. Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office 1916–1918 (Austin: A.C. Baldwin & Sons State Printers, 1918), 18
[2] Giles, J. Bascom. Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office 1940–1942 (Austin: Press of Von Boeckmann-Jones Co., 1942), 30
[3] Giles, J. Bascom. Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office 1942–1944 (Austin, 1944), 11–12
[4] HJR 62, 49th Regular Session
[5] Giles, J. Bascom. Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office 1942–1944 (Austin, 1944), 6
[6] For: 80,022 Against: 29,935
[7] One of the outcomes of the VLB scandal is that the board was changed to include the Commissioner of the GLO and two gubernatorial appointees with experience in finance and Veterans’ affairs.
[8] HJR 2, 52nd Regular Session and HJR 17, 60th Regular Session
[9] Giles started at the GLO in 1919 so his service to the GLO was 35 years.
[10] Ross McSwain and Harold Byler, Texas Politics and Greed (Bloomington: Authorhouse, 2005), 85
[11] Rudder was appointed by Gov. Allan Shivers
