Followup on WWI veteran's march of 1932

In a previous blog entry, I mentioned Reason magazine had a cartoon article on the right to own a bazooka.

One panel of the cartoon, on page 3, mentions the great march of World War One veterans on Washington in 1932. The cartoon states that all 200,000 individuals were armed, and all they wanted was their pensions.

The cartoon took a few liberties on what really happened.

According to the Wikipedia article on the event, only 31,000 soldiers were present, along with their family and friends. That’s not quite 200,000 soldiers. However, what happened next was quite startling.

Quoting directly from Wikipedia…

“The marchers were cleared and their camps were destroyed by the 12th Infantry Regiment from Fort Howard, Maryland, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment under the command of MAJ. George S. Patton from Fort Myer, Virginia, under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur.

The Posse Comitatus Act, prohibiting the U.S. military from being used for general law enforcement purposes in most instances, did not apply to Washington, DC, because it is one of several pieces of federal property under the direct governance of the U.S. Congress (United States Constitution, Article I. Section 8).

Dwight D. Eisenhower, as a member of MacArthur's staff, had strong reservations about the operation. Troops carrying rifles with unsheathed bayonets and tear gas were sent into the Bonus Army's camps. President Hoover did not want the army to march across the Anacostia River into the protesters' largest encampment, but Douglas MacArthur felt this was a communist attempt to overthrow the government and thus exceeded his authority.

Hundreds of veterans were injured, several were killed, including William Hushka and Eric Carlson, a wife of a veteran miscarried, and other casualties were inflicted.

The visual image of U.S. armed soldiers confronting poor veterans of the recent Great War set the stage for Veteran relief and eventually the Veterans Administration.

By the end of the rout:

* Two veterans were shot and killed.

* An 11 week old baby was in critical condition resulting from shock from gas exposure.

* Two infants died from gas asphyxiation.

* An 11 year old boy was partially blinded by tear gas.

* One bystander was shot in the shoulder.

* One veteran's ear was severed by a Cavalry saber.

* One veteran was stabbed in the hip with a bayonet.

* At least twelve police were injured by the veterans.

* Over 1,000 men, women, and children were exposed to the tear gas, including police, reporters, residents of Washington D.C., and ambulance drivers.

The army burned down the Bonus Army's tents and shacks, although some reports claim that to spite the government, which had provided much of the shelter in the camp, some veterans torched their own camp dwellings before the troops could set upon the camp. Reports of U.S. soldiers marching against their peers did not help Hoover's re-election efforts; neither did his open opposition to the Bonus Bill due to financial concerns. After the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, some of the Bonus Army regrouped in Washington to restate its claims to the new President.”

I want to re-iterate something I think is very important in this article…

“The Posse Comitatus Act, prohibiting the U.S. military from being used for general law enforcement purposes in most instances, did not apply to Washington, DC, because it is one of several pieces of federal property under the direct governance of the U.S. Congress (United States Constitution, Article I. Section 8)”

O.K. Important safety tip.

In today’s political-paranoid climate, can you imagine what would happen if there is ever an assertive million-man march on Washington today?

I did not say hostile… no intent to overthrow anything or break any laws of any kind. Just assertive. A great number of people, all showing up legally armed, and insistent on a specific change happening.

I wonder if history would repeat itself.

-end-