Military Order of the Cootie

The Military Order of the Cootie is a subsidiary of Veterans of Foreign Wars, a veterans' services organization in the United States. The organization's services include visiting war veterans at hospitals. The group was founded in 1920 and joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization in 1923. Membership in the Military Order of the Cootie is the "honor degree" of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; a veteran must be invited to join the group, and group membership has been decreasing as a result.

History
The Military Order of the Cootie was established on Sept. 17, 1920 in Washington, D.C., by Fred Madden and F.L. Gransbury. It was modeled after the Imperial Order of the Dragon, a similar auxiliary of the United Spanish American War Veterans organization. The name "cootie" is a reference to a bug which kept soldiers' heads down in World War I trenches.

The first chapter of the Military Order of the Cootie was established in Washington, D.C., in 1920. Later, a women's auxiliary was formed. A large gathering of members was called a supreme scratch.