Thousands of American soldiers returned from World War I battlefields with disabilities that often made it difficult for them to work  or care for themselves. Soldiers came home blind, deaf, missing limbs, and mentally ill. Very little government support was available to these disabled men. In 1920, a former soldier who had been wounded in France started an organization called Disabled American Veterans of the World War. The organization changed its name to Disabled American Veterans (DAV) during World War II. 

This card case, which belonged to Harold Berlin of Red Wing, contains two lifetime membership cards for the DAV. One card is paper and the other is metal. When Berlin returned home from war, he worked at a linseed oil company (1920 census) and a motor company (1930 census). By 1940, at the age of 48, he was listed as "unable to work." In 1932, he received the Purple Heart for action in World War I, and at the age of 50, in 1942, he registered for the World War II draft. He died in 1956 and is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.