Bonus Army Conflict, Date -July 28, 1932
Here's an interesting historical event which clearly illustrates how yOUR government has dealt with past incidents of "we the people" making demands on *them in the big house* and the final outcome of an unwelcomed display of the "common citizen" on *their* turf in DC.
~~~ "The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand cash-payment redemption of their service certificates. Its organizers called it the Bonus Expeditionary Force to echo the name of World War I's American Expeditionary Force, while the media called it the Bonus March. It was led by Walter W. Waters, a former Army sergeant.
Bonus Army Conflict, Date -July 28, 1932
Location = Washington D.C., United States of America
Belligerents = "Bonus Army" vs. The United States Army
US Army & Gov't Commanders were Herbert Hoover, Douglas MacArthur & George S. Patton
"Bonus Army" Leaders were Walter W. Waters, William Hushka † & Eric Carlson †
Strength, Bonus Army, 17,000 veterans & 26,000 others
US Army = 500 infantry, 500 cavalry, 6 Renault FT tanks & 800 police
Bonus Army Casualties and losses, 4 dead; 1,017 injured - The cornered police drew their revolvers and shot two veterans, William Hushka and Eric Carlson, who died later.
At least 69 police injured.
Result = Bonus Army dispersed, demands rejected
"U.S. Army intervention,
At 4:45 p.m., commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the 12th Infantry Regiment, Fort Howard, Maryland, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, supported by six battle tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, formed in Pennsylvania Avenue while thousands of civil service employees left work to line the street and watch. The Bonus Marchers, believing the troops were marching in their honor, cheered the troops until Patton ordered[citation needed] the cavalry to charge them—an action which prompted the spectators to yell, "Shame! Shame!"
Shacks that members of the Bonus Army erected on the Anacostia Flats burning after the confrontation with the military.
After the cavalry charged, the infantry, with fixed bayonets and adamsite gas, an arsenical vomiting agent, entered the camps, evicting veterans, families, and camp followers. The veterans fled across the Anacostia River to their largest camp and President Hoover ordered the assault stopped. However Gen. MacArthur, feeling the Bonus March was an attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, ignored the President and ordered a new attack. Fifty-five veterans were injured and 135 arrested. A veteran's wife miscarried. When 12-week-old Bernard Myers died in the hospital after being caught in the tear gas attack, a government investigation reported he died of enteritis, while a hospital spokesman said the tear gas "didn't do it any good."
During the military operation, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, later the 34th President of the United States, served as one of MacArthur's junior aides. Believing it wrong for the Army's highest-ranking officer to lead an action against fellow American war veterans, he strongly advised MacArthur against taking any public role: "I told that dumb son-of-a-bitch not to go down there," he said later. "I told him it was no place for the Chief of Staff." Despite his misgivings, Eisenhower later wrote the Army's official incident report which endorsed MacArthur's conduct."
"The Bonus Army incident proved disastrous for Hoover's chances at re-election; he lost the 1932 election in a landslide to Franklin D. Roosevelt."
Link to complete article :arrow:;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army
Let's hope & pray that history does Not repeat itself in this manner & result in as disastrous an outcome on this 4/July/2013.
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Peace & Carry Safe !