ABSTRACT
This chapter covers the history of art therapy with military and veteran populations. It describes Martha Haeseler's early work with at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Connecticut and describes the beginnings of art therapy at Walter Reed. For 102 years, from 1909 until 2011, Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the US Army's flagship hospital, operating on over 113 acres in Northwest Washington, DC. Major Walter Reed's family donated the land on which the hospital was erected, which was then named after him. As an army physician, he led the team which confirmed that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes rather than by direct contact with an infected person. In the 1990s, art therapy morphed into the activities therapy service. The service included art, recreation, and horticultural therapy, and had 22 full- and two part-time staff members. Martha saw many soldiers who had served in Vietnam and who were having trouble leaving the Military and transitioning into civilian life.
