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Bonuskamp
Die Bonus Army het op Washington neergedaal om 'n vroeë betaling van hul bonusgeld te eis. Hoover het beveel dat hul kamp opgeslaan moet word.
Namate die depressie vererger het, het veterane uit die Eerste Wêreldoorlog begin kla om 'n vroeë uitbetaling van die veterane se bonusse wat hulle vir 1945 beloof is. Hulle beweer dat hulle die geld onmiddellik nodig het. Hoover was gekant teen enige aksie, maar die kongres het 'n wetsontwerp goedgekeur om die veterane tot 50% van hul bonusse te laat leen. Hoover het die wetsontwerp veto gelê. As gevolg hiervan het 'n 'leër' ontwikkel, opgeruk na Washington en onder leiding van Roy Robertson 'n tydelike woning daar gevestig.
Nadat 'n betoging tot die verlies van twee lewens gelei het, het Hoover beveel dat die bonuskamp van die veterane vernietig moet word. Die Amerikaanse weermag, onder bevel van generaal MacArthur, het dadelik die sogenaamde "The Battle of Anacostia Flats" uitgevoer en die kamp opgeslaan. Hierdie aksie, oënskynlik wreed, bevestig in die gedagtes van baie die idee dat Hoover nie omgee vir menslike lyding in Amerika nie.
Bonus Army - Geskiedenis
'Hutte, wat deur die Bonus Army op die Anacostia -woonstelle in Washington, DC opgerig is, brand na die geveg met die weermag. Die Capitol op die agtergrond. 1932. ” Wikimedia.
Hoover se reaksie op 'n groot openbare protes het sy nalatenskap verseël. In die somer van 1932 het die kongres 'n wetsontwerp bespreek wat die onmiddellike betaling van langbeloofde kontantbonusse aan veterane van die Eerste Wêreldoorlog goedkeur, wat oorspronklik in 1945 uitbetaal sou word. vir die verdienstelikste ontvangers en van regoor die land het meer as 15 000 werklose veterane en hul gesinne byeengekom in Washington, DC Hulle het 'n tentstad oorkant die Potomacrivier in Anacostia Flats opgerig, 'n "Hooverville" in die gees van die kampe van haweloses en werklose Amerikaners wat dan in Amerikaanse stede verskyn.
Bekommerd oor wat onmiddellike betaling aan die federale begroting sou doen, het Hoover gekant teen die wetsontwerp, wat uiteindelik deur die senaat gestem is. Terwyl die meeste van die "Bonus Army" Washington in 'n nederlaag verlaat het, het baie gebly om hul saak aan te spreek. Hoover noem die oorblywende veterane 'opstandelinge' en beveel hulle om te vertrek. Toe duisende nie die vakansiebevel gehoorsaam het nie, het generaal Douglas MacArthur, vergesel van die plaaslike polisie, infanterie, kavallerie, tenks en 'n masjiengeweer -eskader, die tentstad binnegestorm en die Bonus Army gelei. Nasionale media het die ramp behandel terwyl troepe mans en vroue agtervolg, kinders in trane vergas en die kersdorp aan die brand gesteek het.
Hoover se ongevoeligheid vir lydende Amerikaners, sy onwilligheid om wydverspreide ekonomiese probleme aan te spreek en sy herhaaldelike meegevoelens oor die terugkeer van welvaart veroordeel sy presidentskap. Hoover was natuurlik nie persoonlik verantwoordelik vir die depressie nie. Maar nie hy of sy adviseurs het die enorme omvang van die krisis bedink nie, 'n krisis wat sy konserwatiewe ideologie nie kon akkommodeer of aanspreek nie. As gevolg hiervan het Amerikaners min verligting van Washington gevind. Hulle was op hul eie.
Waarom die bonusleër opgeruk het
Die meeste veterane wat in 1932 op die Capitol opgeruk het, was sonder werk sedert die Groot Depressie in 1929 begin het. Hulle het geld nodig gehad, en die Wet op die Aangepaste Vergoeding van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog van 1924 het belowe om dit te gee, maar eers in 1945 - 'n volle 27 jaar na die einde van die oorlog waarin hulle geveg het.
Die Wet op Aangepaste Vergoeding van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog, wat deur die Kongres aangeneem is as 'n 20-jaar-versekeringspolis, het 'n aflosbare 'Aangepaste Dienssertifikaat' ter waarde van 125% van sy dienskrediet aan alle gekwalifiseerde veterane toegeken. Elke veteraan moes $ 1,25 betaal word vir elke dag wat hulle in die buiteland gedien het en $ 1,00 vir elke dag wat hulle gedurende die oorlog in die Verenigde State gedien het. Die opvatting was dat die veterane die sertifikate eers op hul individuele verjaarsdae in 1945 kon aflos.
Op 15 Mei 1924 het president Calvin Coolidge inderdaad 'n veto gemaak teen die wetsontwerp wat die bonusse bevat wat lui: "Patriotisme, gekoop en betaal, is nie patriotisme nie." Die kongres het sy veto egter 'n paar dae later oortree.
Alhoewel die veterane gelukkig was om op hul bonusse te wag toe die Wet op Aangepaste Vergoeding in 1924 aangeneem het, het die Groot Depressie vyf jaar later ontstaan, en teen 1932 het hulle onmiddellik geld nodig gehad, soos om hulself en hul gesinne te voed.
Bonus Army - Geskiedenis
In Mei van daardie jaar het ongeveer 15 000 veterane, baie werkloses en behoeftiges, na Washington, DC, gekom om onmiddellike betaling van hul bonus te eis. Hulle het hulself as die Bonus Expeditionary Force uitgeroep, maar die publiek het hulle die 'Bonus Army' genoem. Hulle het op verskillende plekke in die stad rampspoedige kampe opgerig en gewag.
Die veterane het hul grootste kamp by Anacostia Flats oorkant die rivier van die Capitol gemaak. Ongeveer 10 000 veterane, vroue en kinders woon in die skuilings wat gebou is uit materiaal wat uit 'n rommelstapel daar naby gesleep is - ou hout, verpakkingsbakke en afvalblikke wat bedek is met dakke van rietstrooi.
Dissipline in die kamp was goed, ondanks die vrees vir baie inwoners van die stad wat ongegronde gerugte oor 'Red Scare' versprei het. Strate is aangelê, latrines gegrawe en formasies word daagliks gehou. Nuwelinge moes registreer en bewys dat dit veterane is wat eerlik ontslaan is. Hul leier, Walter Waters, het gesê: "Ons is hier vir die duur en ons gaan nie honger ly nie. Ons hou onsself 'n simone-suiwer veteraanorganisasie. As die bonus uitbetaal word, sal dit 'n groot deel verlig. omvang van die betreurenswaardige ekonomiese toestand. ”
17 Junie word deur 'n plaaslike koerant beskryf as "die spannendste dag in die hoofstad sedert die oorlog." Die Senaat het gestem oor die wetsontwerp wat reeds deur die Huis aangeneem is om die veeartse onmiddellik hul bonusgeld te gee. Teen skemer het 10 000 optoggangers op die Capitol -terrein saamgedrom in afwagting op die uitslag. Walter Waters, leier van die Bonus Expeditionary Force, verskyn met slegte nuus. Die senaat het die wetsontwerp met 62 tot 18 stemme verslaan. Die skare reageer stomgeslaan. 'Sing Amerika en gaan terug na u geld', beveel hy, en hulle het dit gedoen. 'N Stil "Doodsmars" begin voor die Capitol en duur tot 17 Julie, toe die kongres verdaag.
'N Maand later, op 28 Julie, het die prokureur -generaal Mitchell beveel dat die veterane uit alle regeringseiendom ontruim moet word. Die polisie in Washington het weerstand gekry, skote is gevuur en twee optoggangers is dood. Toe hy tydens die middagete van die skietery hoor, het president Hoover die weermag beveel om die veterane uit die weg te ruim. Infanterie
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| Troepe berei hulle voor om die Bonus Army 28 Julie 1932 |
Teen 16:45 die troepe is op Pennsylvania Ave onder die Capitol versamel. Duisende staatsdienswerkers loop uit die werk en loop deur die strate om te kyk. Die veterane, met die veronderstelling dat die militêre vertoning ter ere van hulle was, juig. Skielik draai Patton se troepe om en laai. "Shame, Shame" het die toeskouers gehuil. Soldate met vaste bajonette het gevolg en traangas in die skare gegooi.
Teen die aand het die BEF oor die Anacostia -rivier teruggetrek waar Hoover MacArthur beveel het om te stop. Deur die bevel te ignoreer, het die generaal sy infanterie na die hoofkamp gelei. Vroegoggend is die 10 000 inwoners gered en die kamp in vlamme. Twee babas sterf en nabygeleë hospitale is oorweldig met slagoffers. Eisenhower het later geskryf, "die hele toneel was jammerlik. Die veterane was vies, gevoelloos en het hulself erg misbruik gevoel. Om skielik te sien hoe die hele kamp in vlamme opgaan, word dit net jammer."
Verwysings:
Bartlett, John Henry, The Bonus March and the New Deal (1937) Daniels, Roger, The Bonus March an Episode of the Great Depression (1971).
Inhoud
Smedley Darlington Butler is gebore op 30 Julie 1881 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, die oudste van drie seuns. Sy ouers, Thomas en Maud (née Darlington) Butler, [2] was afstammelinge van plaaslike Quaker -gesinne. Albei sy ouers was heeltemal van Engelse afkoms, wat almal sedert die 17de eeu in Noord -Amerika was. [3] Sy pa was 'n prokureur, 'n regter en het later 31 jaar in die Huis van Verteenwoordigers gedien en as voorsitter van die Huisvlootkomitee gedien tydens die Harding- en Coolidge -administrasies. Smedley se loopbaansukses van die Marine Corps het plaasgevind terwyl sy pa die polities invloedryke kongresstoel beklee wat die mannekrag en begroting van die Marine Corps beheer. [4] Sy oupa aan moederskant was Smedley Darlington, 'n Republikeinse kongreslid van 1887 tot 1891. [5]
Butler het die West Chester Friends Graded High School bygewoon, gevolg deur The Haverford School, 'n sekondêre skool wat gewild was onder seuns van die hoër klas Philadelphia-gesinne. [6] Hy word kaptein van die skoolbofbalspan en quarterback van sy voetbalspan. [2] Teen die wense van sy vader verlaat hy die skool 38 dae voor sy sewentiende verjaardag om tydens die Spaans -Amerikaanse oorlog by die Marine Corps aan te meld. Desondanks het Haverford hom op 6 Junie 1898 sy hoërskool diploma toegeken voor die einde van sy laaste jaar. Sy transkripsie verklaar dat hy die wetenskaplike kursus 'met krediet' voltooi het. [2]
Spaans -Amerikaanse oorlog wysig
In die Spaanse oorlogsgierigheid van 1898 het Butler gelieg oor sy ouderdom om 'n direkte kommissie as mariene tweede luitenant te ontvang. [2] Hy het in Marine Barracks, Washington, DC opgelei. In Julie 1898 is hy na Guantánamo Bay, Kuba, en kom kort na die inval en gevangenskap. [7] Sy geselskap keer gou terug na die VSA, en na 'n kort pouse word hy aangestel by die pantserkruiser USS New York vir vier maande. [8] Hy kom huis toe om in Februarie 1899 buite diens te word, [8] maar op 8 April 1899 aanvaar hy 'n kommissie as eerste luitenant in die Marine Corps. [8]
Filipyns -Amerikaanse oorlog wysig
Die Marine Corps het hom na Manila, Filippyne, gestuur. [9] Op garnisoenplig met min te doen, wend Butler hom tot alkohol om die verveling te verlig. Hy het eenkeer dronk geword en is tydelik van bevel onthef ná 'n ongespesifiseerde voorval in sy kamer. [10]
In Oktober 1899 sien hy sy eerste gevegsaksie toe hy 300 mariniers die stad Noveleta van Filippynse troepe van die nuwe Filippynse republiek laat inneem. In die eerste oomblikke van die aanranding is sy eerste sersant gewond. Butler het kortliks paniekbevange geraak, maar het vinnig weer kalm geword en sy mariniers gelei na die vlugtende vyand. [10] Teen die middag het die mariniers die inheemse verdedigers versprei en die stad ingeneem. Een marinier is dood en tien is gewond. Nog 50 mariniers is deur die vogtige tropiese hitte ongeskik gemaak. [11]
Na die opwinding van hierdie geveg, het garnisoenplig weer roetine geword. Hy ontmoet Littleton Waller, 'n mede -marinier met wie hy 'n lewenslange vriendskap onderhou het. Toe Waller die bevel van 'n onderneming in Guam kry, kon hy vyf beamptes kies om saam te neem. Butler was een van sy keuses. Voordat hulle vertrek het, is hul bevele verander en is dit aan boord van die USS na China gestuur Troos om te help om die Boxer Rebellion neer te sit. [11]
Boxer Rebellion Edit
Eenmaal in China, is Butler aanvanklik by Tientsin ontplooi. Hy het op 13 Julie 1900 aan die Slag van Tientsin deelgeneem en aan die daaropvolgende Gaselee -ekspedisie, waartydens hy die verminkte oorskot van Japannese soldate gesien het. Toe hy 'n ander marinebeampte gewond sien val, klim hy uit 'n sloot om hom te red. Butler is toe in die bobeen geskiet. 'N Ander Marine het hom gehelp om veilig te kom, maar is ook geskiet. Ondanks sy beenwond het Butler die gewonde beampte agterop gehelp. Vier ingeskrewe mans sou die Medal of Honor in die geveg ontvang. Butler se bevelvoerder, majoor Waller, het hom persoonlik geprys en geskryf dat "vir die beloning wat u mag ag, die volgende offisiere: luitenant Smedley D. Butler, vir die bewonderenswaardige beheer van sy manne in al die gevegte van die week, omdat hy 'n gewonde man met die risiko van sy eie lewe en onder 'n baie ernstige brand. " Onderoffisiere kon toe nie die Medal of Honor ontvang nie, en Butler het in plaas daarvan 'n promosie tot kaptein per brevet ontvang terwyl hy in die hospitaal herstel het, twee weke voor sy 19de verjaardag. [ aanhaling nodig ]
Hy was in aanmerking vir die Marine Corps Brevet -medalje toe dit in 1921 geskep is, en was een van slegs 20 mariniers wat dit ontvang het. [12] Sy aanhaling lui:
Die Sekretaris van die Vloot het die plesier om die Eerste Luitenant Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, die Brevet -medalje wat toegeken word in ooreenstemming met Marine Corps Order No. die vyand terwyl hy saam met die Tweede Bataljon Marines, naby Tientsin, China, op 13 Julie 1900 dien. Op 28 Maart 1901 word Eerste Luitenant Butler per kaptein aangestel om rang te neem vanaf 13 Julie 1900. [13]
Banana Wars Edit
Butler het deelgeneem aan 'n reeks beroepe, "polisie -aksies" en ingrypings deur die Verenigde State in Sentraal -Amerika en die Karibiese Eilande, wat gewoonlik die Banana Wars genoem word omdat hulle doel was om Amerikaanse kommersiële belange in die streek te beskerm, veral dié van die United Fruit Company . Hierdie onderneming het aansienlike finansiële belange in die produksie van piesangs, tabak, suikerriet en ander produkte in die Karibiese Eilande, Sentraal -Amerika en die noordelike gedeeltes van Suid -Amerika. Die VSA het ook probeer om sy eie politieke belange te bevorder deur sy invloed in die streek en veral sy beheer oor die Panamakanaal te behou. Hierdie ingrypings het begin met die Spaans -Amerikaanse oorlog in 1898 en geëindig met die onttrekking van troepe uit Haïti en president Franklin D. Roosevelt se Good Neighbor -beleid in 1934. [14] Na sy uittrede het Butler 'n uitgesproke kritikus geword van die sakebelange in die Caribbean, en kritiseer die wyse waarop Amerikaanse ondernemings en Wall Street -bankiers gedurende hierdie tydperk hul agenda op die buitelandse beleid van die Verenigde State afgedwing het. [15]
Honduras Redigeer
In 1903 was Butler gestasioneer in Puerto Rico op Culebra -eiland. Toe die gerugte van 'n opstand in Honduras gehoor word, het die Amerikaanse regering sy eenheid en 'n ondersteunende vlootafdeling beveel om na Honduras te vaar, 2,414 km wes, om die Amerikaanse konsulaat daar te verdedig. Die gebruik van 'n omskepte piesangboot het die naam van die Panther, Het Butler en 'n paar honderd mariniers by die hawestad Puerto Cortés geland. In 'n brief aan die huis beskryf hy die aksie: hulle was "bereid om almal en alles wat die vrede verbreek, te land en te skiet", [16], maar vind eerder 'n rustige stad. Die Marines het weer aan boord van die Panther en verder langs die kuslyn, op soek na rebelle by verskeie dorpe, maar niks gevind nie.
Toe hulle by Trujillo aankom, hoor hulle egter skietery en kom daar 'n veldslag aan die gang wat 55 uur lank tussen rebelle aan die gang was. Bonillista en Hondurese regeringsoldate by 'n plaaslike fort. By die aanskoue van die mariniers het die gevegte opgehou, en Butler het 'n groep mariniers na die Amerikaanse konsulaat gelei, waar hy die konsul, toegedraai in 'n Amerikaanse vlag, tussen die vloerbalke gevind het. Sodra die mariniers die gebied met die geskudde konsul verlaat het, het die geveg hervat en die Bonillistas het die regering gou beheer. [16] Tydens hierdie ekspedisie het Butler die eerste van sy byname gekry, "Old Gimlet Eye". Dit word toegeskryf aan sy koorsagtige, bloedbelope oë - hy het destyds aan 'n naamlose tropiese koors gely - wat sy deurdringende en onwrikbare staar versterk het. [17]
Huwelik en besigheid Redigeer
Na die Hondurese veldtog keer Butler terug na Philadelphia. Hy trou op 30 Junie 1905 met Ethel Conway Peters van Philadelphia, 'n dogter van die siviele ingenieur en spoorwegbestuurder Richard Peters. [18] Sy beste man by die troue was sy voormalige bevelvoerder in China, luitenant -kolonel Littleton Waller. [19] Die egpaar het uiteindelik drie kinders gehad: 'n dogter, Ethel Peters Butler, en twee seuns, Smedley Darlington Jr. en Thomas Richard. [20]
Butler is daarna in die Filippyne aangestel as garnisoen, waar hy eens 'n hervoorsieningsmissie oor die stormagtige waters van Subicbaai geloods het nadat sy afgesonderde buitepos die rantsoene op was. In 1908 word 'n senuwee -ineenstorting by hom gediagnoseer, en hy kry nege maande siekteverlof wat hy tuis deurgebring het. Hy het 'n steenkoolmyn in Wes -Virginia suksesvol bestuur, maar het by die eerste geleentheid teruggekeer na aktiewe diens in die Marine Corps. [21]
Sentraal -Amerika Edit
Van 1909 tot 1912 dien Butler in Nicaragua en handhaaf die Amerikaanse beleid. Met 'n koors van 104 grade het hy sy bataljon gelei tot die verligting van die rebelle-beleërde stad Granada. In Desember 1909 was hy bevelvoerder van die 3de Bataljon, 1st Marine Regiment on the Isthmus of Panama. Op 11 Augustus 1912 is hy tydelik losgemaak om 'n ekspedisiebataljon te lei wat hy gelei het in die Slag van Masaya op 19 September 1912, en die bombardement, aanval en vang van Coyotepe Hill, Nicaragua in Oktober 1912. Hy het tot November in Nicaragua gebly. 1912, toe hy weer by die 3de Bataljon, 1st Marines by Camp Elliott, Panama, aansluit. [5]
Veracruz en eerste Medal of Honor Edit
Butler en sy gesin het in Januarie 1914 in Panama gewoon toe hy beveel is om aan te meld as die marinebeampte van 'n slagskip -eskader wat aan die kus van Mexiko, naby Veracruz, masseer om 'n revolusionêre beweging dop te hou. Hy hou nie daarvan om sy gesin en die huis wat hulle in Panama gevestig het, te verlaat nie en was van plan om bevele huis toe te vra sodra hy vasgestel het dat dit nie nodig is nie. [22]
Op 1 Maart 1914 het Butler en Navy-luitenant Frank J. Fletcher (om nie te verwar met sy oom nie, agteradmiraal Frank F. Fletcher) "aan wal gegaan by Veracruz, waar hulle die Amerikaanse superintendent van die Inter-Oceanic Railway ontmoet het en bedaard was. het in sy privaat motor ['n treinspoor] op die lyn 75 myl na Jalapa en terug gery. " [23] Die doel van die reis was om Butler en Fletcher in staat te stel om die besonderhede van 'n toekomstige ekspedisie na Mexiko te bespreek. Volgens Fletcher se plan moes Butler die land binnekom en 'n meer gedetailleerde invalsplan ontwikkel terwyl hy binne sy grense was. Dit was 'n spioenasie -sending en Butler was entoesiasties om aan die gang te kom. Toe Fletcher die plan aan die bevelvoerders in Washington, DC verduidelik, het hulle daartoe ingestem. Butler het die trekpas gekry. [ aanhaling nodig ] 'N Paar dae later vertrek hy per trein op sy spioenasie na Mexico City, met 'n tussenstop in Puebla. Hy het na die Amerikaanse konsulaat in Mexico -stad gegaan en hom voorgedoen as 'n spoorwegamptenaar genaamd 'Mr. Johnson'.
- 5 Maart. Terwyl ek gisteraand gelees het en gewag het op aandete om te bedien, het 'n besoeker, eerder as 'n besoeker, in my sitkamer verskyn incognito - 'n eenvoudige "Mr. Johnson", gretig, onverskrokke, dinamies, doeltreffend, ongeskeer! * * * [24]
Hy en die hoofspoorweginspekteur het die stad deurgesoek en gesê dat hulle op soek was na 'n verlore spoorwegwerknemer, dat daar geen verlore werknemer was nie. Die snoes gee Butler toegang tot verskillende dele van die stad. In die proses van die sogenaamde soektog het hulle wapens opgespoor wat deur die Mexikaanse weermag gebruik is en die grootte van eenhede en gereedheidstoestande bepaal. Hulle het kaarte bygewerk en die spoorlyne geverifieer vir gebruik in 'n dreigende Amerikaanse inval. [25] Op 7 Maart 1914 keer hy terug na Veracruz met die inligting wat hy versamel het en bring dit aan sy bevelvoerders voor. Die invalplan is uiteindelik geskrap toe owerhede wat lojaal was aan die Mexikaanse generaal Victoriano Huerta, 'n klein Amerikaanse vlootlandingsparty (wat aan wal gegaan het om petrol te koop) in Tampico, Mexiko, aangehou het, wat gelei het tot wat bekend geword het as die Tampico Affair. [26]
Toe president Woodrow Wilson ontdek dat 'n wapensending op die punt was om in Mexiko aan te kom, het hy 'n kontingent mariniers en matrose na Veracruz gestuur om dit op 21 April 1914 te onderskep. Oor die volgende paar dae het straatgevegte en sluipskutters 'n bedreiging ingehou Butler se krag, maar 'n deur-tot-deur-soektog het die meeste weerstand uit die weg geruim. Teen 26 April het die landingsmag van 5 800 mariniers en matrose die stad beveilig wat hulle die volgende ses maande aangehou het. Teen die einde van die konflik het die Amerikaners 17 dood en 63 gewond gerapporteer, en die Mexikaanse magte het 126 dood en 195 gewond. Na die optrede by Veracruz het die VSA besluit om die bloedvergieting tot die minimum te beperk en het hulle planne verander van 'n volledige inval in Mexiko na die instandhouding van die stad Veracruz. [27] Vir sy optrede op 22 April word Butler sy eerste erepenning toegeken. [5] [13] Die aanhaling lui:
Vir uitnemende optrede in die geveg, verlowing van Vera Cruz, 22 April 1914. Majoor Butler was prominent en opvallend in bevel van sy bataljon. Hy het moed en vaardigheid getoon om sy manne te lei deur die optrede van die 22e en in die finale besetting van die stad. [13]
Na die besetting van Veracruz het baie militêre personeel die Medal of Honor ontvang, 'n buitengewoon hoë getal wat die aansien van die toekenning ietwat verminder het. Die weermag het een aangebied, nege is na mariniers en 46 is aan vlootpersoneel toegeken. Tydens die Eerste Wêreldoorlog het Butler probeer om sy medalje terug te gee en verduidelik dat hy niks gedoen het om dit te verdien nie. Die medalje is aan hom teruggestuur met bevele om dit te behou en ook te dra. [28]
Haïti en tweede Medal of Honor Edit
In 1915 is die Haïtiaanse president Vilbrun Guillaume Sam deur 'n skare doodgemaak. In reaksie hierop het die Verenigde State die USS gelas Connecticut na Haïti met majoor Butler en 'n groep mariniers aan boord. Op 24 Oktober 1915, na raming 400 Cacos 'n hinderlaag op Butler se patrollie van 44 berede mariniers toe hulle Fort Dipitie nader. Omring deur Cacos, het die mariniers hul omtrek deur die nag behou. Die volgende oggend het hulle die veel groter vyandelike mag aangeval deur in drie rigtings uit te breek. Die geskrikte Haïtiërs vlug. [29] Begin November keer Butler en 'n mag van 700 mariniers en matrose terug na die berge om die gebied skoon te maak. By hul tydelike hoofkwartier in Le Trou het hulle 'n aanval van ongeveer 100 keer bestry Cacos. Nadat die Amerikaners gedurende die daaropvolgende dae verskeie ander forte en skanse ingeneem het, is slegs Fort Rivière, 'n ou, Franse gebou, op Montagne Noire, oor. [29]
Vir die operasie het Butler drie maatskappye van mariniers en 'n paar matrose van die USS gekry Connecticut, ongeveer 100 mans. Hulle het die fort omsingel en geleidelik toegemaak. Butler bereik die fort aan die suidekant met die 15de kompanie en vind 'n klein opening in die muur. Die mariniers het deur die opening ingegaan en die Cacos in hand-tot-hand gevegte. Butler en die mariniers het op 17 November die vesting van die rebelle ingeneem, 'n aksie waarvoor hy sy tweede eremedalje ontvang het, asook die Haïtiaanse eremedalje. [13] Die hele geveg het minder as 20 minute geduur. Slegs een Marine is beseer tydens die aanval, hy is deur 'n rots getref en twee tande verloor. [30] Al 51 Haïtiërs in die fort is dood. [29] Butler se uitbuiting beïndruk die assistent -sekretaris van die vloot Franklin D. Roosevelt, wat die toekenning aanbeveel het op grond van Butler se prestasie tydens die verlowing. [31] Nadat die medalje in 1917 goedgekeur en oorhandig is, behaal Butler die onderskeiding, gedeel met Dan Daly, om die enigste mariniers te wees wat twee keer die Medal of Honor ontvang het vir afsonderlike aksies. [5] Die aanhaling lui:
Vir buitengewone heroïsme in aksie as bevelvoerder van afdelings van die 5de, 13de, 23de kompagnie en die skeepvaart- en matroosafdeling van die U.S.S. Major Butler in Connecticut het die aanval op Fort Rivière, Haïti, 17 November 1915, gelei. Na 'n gekonsentreerde rit het verskeie afdelings van mariniers geleidelik op die ou Franse bastion -fort toegesluit in 'n poging om alle terugwegpaaie vir die Caco -bandiete af te sny . Majoor Butler het die fort aan die suidekant bereik, waar daar 'n klein opening in die muur was, en het die sein gegee om aan te val en mariniers van die 15de kompanie stroom deur die inbraak, voer die Cacos aan in die hand-tot-hand-geveg, neem die bastion en het die Caco -weerstand verpletter. Gedurende hierdie gevaarlike optrede was majoor Butler opvallend vir sy dapperheid en kragtige leierskap. [13]
As aanvanklike organiseerder en bevelvoerder van die Gendarmerie d'Haïti, die inheemse polisiemag, het Butler daarna 'n rekord opgestel as 'n bekwame administrateur. Onder sy toesig is die sosiale orde, bestuur deur die diktatuur, grootliks herstel, en baie belangrike openbare werksprojekte is suksesvol afgehandel. [32] Hy het later onthou dat hy en sy troepe gedurende sy tyd in Haïti "die Cacos soos varke. "[30]
Eerste Wêreldoorlog Edit
Gedurende die Eerste Wêreldoorlog is Butler, tot sy teleurstelling, nie toegewys aan 'n gevegsbevel aan die Westelike Front nie. Hy het verskeie versoeke vir 'n pos in Frankryk gerig en briewe aan sy persoonlike vriend, Wendell Cushing Neville, geskryf. Terwyl die meerderes van Butler hom dapper en briljant beskou het, beskryf hulle hom as 'onbetroubaar'. [7]
In Oktober 1918 is hy op 37 -jarige ouderdom bevorder tot die rang van brigadier -generaal en onder bevel van Camp Pontanezen in Brest, Frankryk, 'n ontladingsdepot wat troepe van die Amerikaanse ekspedisiemag na die slagvelde gestuur het. Die kamp was onhigiënies, oorvol en ongeorganiseerd. Die Amerikaanse minister van oorlog, Newton Baker, het die skrywer Mary Roberts Rinehart gestuur om verslag te doen oor die kamp. Sy het later beskryf hoe Butler die sanitasieprobleme aangepak het. Hy het begin met die oplossing van die probleem van modder: "Die grond wat onder die tente gemaal is, was niks anders as modder nie; daarom het hy op die kaai by Brest toegeslaan op die eendeborde wat nie meer nodig was vir die loopgrawe nie, maar die eerste self opgetel 'n heuwel van vier myl na die kamp, en het die manne dus 'n beskerming gebied om op te slaap. " [7] Genl John J. Pershing het 'n eendbordskouer vir die eenhede goedgekeur. Dit het Butler nog 'n bynaam gekry, "Old Duckboard." Vir sy voorbeeldige diens is hy bekroon met beide die Army Distinguished Service Medal en Navy Distinguished Service Medal en die Franse Orde van die Black Star. [5] Die aanhaling vir die Army Distinguished Service Medal lui:
Die president van die Verenigde State van Amerika, gemagtig deur die Wet van die Kongres, 9 Julie 1918, geniet dit om die Army Distinguished Service -medalje aan brigade -generaal Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, te oorhandig vir buitengewoon verdienstelike en vername dienste aan die regering van die Verenigde State, in 'n plig van groot verantwoordelikheid tydens die Eerste Wêreldoorlog. Brigadier -generaal Butler het met krag en energie die Pontanezen -kamp in Brest beveel gedurende die tyd waarin dit ontwikkel het tot die grootste aanvangskamp ter wêreld. Gekonfronteer met probleme van buitengewone omvang by die toesig oor die ontvangs, vermaak en vertrek van die groot aantal offisiere en soldate wat deur hierdie kamp gaan, het hy dit met opvallende sukses opgelos en dienste van die hoogste karakter vir die Amerikaanse ekspedisiemagte verrig. [13]
Die aanhaling vir die Navy Distinguished Service Medal lui:
Die president van die Verenigde State van Amerika geniet dit om die Navy Distinguished Service -medalje aan Brigadier -generaal Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps, te oorhandig vir buitengewoon verdienstelike en vername dienste in Frankryk, tydens die Eerste Wêreldoorlog. Brigadier -generaal Butler georganiseer, opgelei en bevelvoerder van die 13de Regiment Marines ook die 5de Brigade van Marines. Hy het met vaardigheid en energie bevel gegee oor Camp Pontanezen in Brest gedurende die tyd waarin dit ontwikkel het tot die grootste aanvangskamp ter wêreld. Gekonfronteer met probleme van buitengewone omvang by die toesig oor die ontvangs, vermaak en vertrek van 'n groot aantal offisiere en soldate wat deur die kamp gaan, het hy dit met opvallende sukses opgelos en dienste van die hoogste karakter vir die Amerikaanse ekspedisiemagte verrig. [13]
Quantico Edit
Na die oorlog word hy kommandant -generaal van die mariene kaserne by Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. By Quantico het hy die oorlogskamp in 'n permanente mariene pos verander. Hy het die groei van die Quantico -kamp gelei totdat dit die "vertoonplek" van die korps geword het. [33] Butler het nasionale aandag gekry deur duisende van sy manne op lang veldtogte, waarvan hy baie van die voorkant gelei het, na Gettysburg en ander burgeroorloggevegte te neem, waar hulle grootskaalse heropnames uitgevoer het voor menigtes gesiene toeskouers . [33]
Tydens 'n opleidingsoefening in die weste van Virginia in 1921, het 'n plaaslike boer vir hom gesê dat Stonewall Jackson se arm daar naby begrawe is, waarop hy geantwoord het: "Bosh! Ek sal 'n groep mariniers neem en die plek opgrawe om te bewys dat u verkeerd is! " [34] Butler het die arm in 'n boks gevind. Hy het later die houtkas met 'n metaalkas vervang en die arm weer begrawe. Hy het 'n gedenkplaat op die granietmonument gelos wat die begraafplaas van Jackson se arm aandui, maar die gedenkplaat is nie meer op die merker nie, maar kan besigtig word by die besoekersentrum van Chancellorsville Battlefield. [34] [35]
Philadelphia, direkteur van openbare veiligheid, wysig
In 1924 het die nuutverkose burgemeester van Philadelphia W. Freeland Kendrick president Calvin Coolidge gevra om 'n militêre generaal aan die stad te leen om hom te help om die munisipale regering van Philadelphia te beskerm teen misdaad en korrupsie. Op aandrang van Butler se vader [4] het Coolidge Butler gemagtig om die nodige verlof van die korps te neem om as die direkteur van openbare veiligheid in Philadelphia te dien wat die polisie en brandweer van die stad bestuur vanaf Januarie 1924 tot Desember 1925. [5] Hy het sy nuwe werk begin deur al 4 000 stadspolisie in skofte bymekaar te bring in die Metropolitan Opera House om homself voor te stel en in te lig dat dinge sou verander terwyl hy in beheer was. Aangesien hy nie die bevoegdheid gekry het om korrupte polisiebeamptes af te dank nie, het hy hele eenhede van die een deel van die stad na 'n ander oorgeskakel, [4] om plaaslike beskermingsrakette en winsgewendheid te ondermyn. [36] [37]
Binne 48 uur nadat hy Butler oorgeneem het, het hy aanvalle op meer as 900 praatjies gedoen en hulle beveel dat hulle met 'n slot gesluit en in baie gevalle vernietig is. Benewens die klopjag op die praatjies, het hy ook probeer om ander onwettige aktiwiteite uit te skakel: bootlegging, prostitusie, dobbelary en polisiekorrupsie. Hy was meer ywerig as polities en het opdrag gegee om die gunsteling kuierplekke van die sosiale elite, soos die Ritz-Carlton en die Union League, asook drankinstellings wat die werkersklas bedien, te bestry. [38] Alhoewel hy effektief was in die vermindering van misdaad en polisiekorrupsie, was hy 'n omstrede leier. In 'n geval het hy 'n verklaring gemaak dat hy die eerste offisier wat 'n bandiet vermoor het, sou bevorder en verklaar: "Ek glo nie daar is 'n enkele bandietkerf op 'n polisieman se gewere nie [sic] in hierdie stad, gaan uit en haal 'n paar. "[36] Hoewel baie van die plaaslike burgers en die polisie van mening was dat die klopjagte net 'n vertoning was, het hulle etlike weke aangehou. [37]
Hy het programme geïmplementeer om die veiligheid en veiligheid van die stad te verbeter. Hy het beleid en riglyne van administrasie opgestel en 'n polisie -uniform van Philadelphia ontwikkel wat lyk soos dié van die Marine Corps. [39] Ander veranderings sluit in kontrolepunte in militêre styl die stad in, bandiete-jaagtroepe gewapen met afgesaagde haelgewere en gepantserde polisiemotors. [39] The press began reporting on the good and the bad aspects of Butler's personal war on crime. The reports praised the new uniforms, the new programs and the reductions in crime but they also reflected the public's negative opinion of their new Public Safety Director. Many felt that he was being too aggressive in his tactics and resented the reductions in their civil rights, such as the stopping of citizens at the city checkpoints. Butler frequently swore in his radio addresses, causing many citizens to suggest his behavior, particularly his language, was inappropriate for someone of his rank and stature. [40] Some even suggested Butler acted like a military dictator, even charging that he wrongfully used active-duty Marines in some of his raids. [40] Maj. R.A. Haynes, the federal Prohibition commissioner, visited the city in 1924, six months after Butler was appointed. He announced that "great progress" [41] had been made in the city and attributed that success to Butler. [41]
Eventually Butler's leadership style and the directness of actions undermined his support within the community. His departure seemed imminent. Mayor Kendrick reported to the press, "I had the guts to bring General Butler to Philadelphia and I have the guts to fire him." [42] Feeling that his duties in Philadelphia were coming to an end, Butler contacted Gen. Lejeune to prepare for his return to the Marine Corps. Not all of the city felt he was doing a bad job, though, and when the news started to leak that he would be leaving, people began to gather at the Academy of Music. A group of 4,000 supporters assembled and negotiated a truce between him and the mayor to keep him in Philadelphia for a while longer, and the president authorized a one-year extension. [43]
Butler devoted much of his second year to executing arrest warrants, cracking down on crooked police and enforcing prohibition. On January 1, 1926, his leave from the Marine Corps ended and the president declined a request for a second extension. Butler received orders to report to San Diego and prepared his family and his belongings for the new assignment. [44] In light of his pending departure, he began to defy the mayor and other key city officials. On the eve of his departure, he had an article printed in the paper stating his intention to stay and "finish the job". [45] The mayor was surprised and furious when he read the press release the next morning and demanded his resignation. [45] After almost two years in office, Butler resigned under pressure, stating later that "cleaning up Philadelphia was worse than any battle I was ever in." [38]
San Diego duty Edit
Following the period of service as the director of public safety in Philadelphia, Smedley assumed command on February 28, 1926, of the U.S. Marine Corps base in San Diego, California, in ceremonies involving officers and the band of the 4th Marine Regiment. [46]
China and stateside service Edit
From 1927 to 1929 Butler was commander of a Marine Expeditionary Force in Tientsin, China, (the China Marines). While there, he cleverly parlayed his influence among various generals and warlords to the protection of U.S. interests, ultimately winning the public acclaim of contending Chinese leaders. When he returned to the United States in 1929 he was promoted to major general, becoming, at age 48, the youngest major general of the Marine Corps. But the death of his father on 26 May 1928 ended the Pennsylvania Congressman's ability to protect Smedley from political retribution for his outspoken views. [4]
In 1931 Butler violated diplomatic norms by publicly recounting gossip [47] [48] about Benito Mussolini in which the dictator allegedly struck and killed a child with his speeding automobile in a hit-and-run accident. The Italian government protested and President Hoover, who strongly disliked Butler, [49] forced Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams III to court-martial him. Butler became the first general officer to be placed under arrest since the Civil War. He apologized to Secretary Adams and the court-martial was canceled with only a reprimand. [50]
When Commandant of the Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Wendell C. Neville died July 8, 1930, Butler, at that time the senior major general in the Corps, was a candidate for the position. [33] Although he had significant support from many inside and outside the Corps, including John Lejeune and Josephus Daniels, two other Marine Corps generals were seriously considered—Ben H. Fuller and John H. Russell Jr.. Lejeune and others petitioned President Herbert Hoover, garnered support in the Senate and flooded Secretary of the Navy Charles Adams' desk with more than 2,500 letters of support. [51] With the recent death of his influential father, however, Butler had lost much of his protection from his civilian superiors. The outspokenness that characterized his run-ins with the mayor of Philadelphia, the "unreliability" mentioned by his superiors when they were opposing Butler's posting to the Western Front, and his comments about Benito Mussolini resurfaced. In the end the position of commandant went to Fuller, who had more years of commissioned service than Butler and was considered less controversial. Butler requested retirement and left active duty on October 1, 1931. [7] [33]
Even before retiring from the Corps, Butler began developing his post-Corps career. In May 1931 he took part in a commission established by Oregon Governor Julius L. Meier which laid the foundations for the Oregon State Police. [52] He began lecturing at events and conferences, and after his retirement from the Marines in 1931 he took this up full-time. He donated much of his earnings from his lucrative lecture circuits to the Philadelphia unemployment relief. He toured the western United States, making 60 speeches before returning for his daughter's marriage to Marine aviator Lt. John Wehle. Her wedding was the only time he wore his dress blue uniform after he left the Marines. [53]
Senate campaign Edit
Butler announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in the Republican primary in Pennsylvania in March 1932 as a proponent of Prohibition, known as a "dry". [53] Butler allied with Gifford Pinchot but was defeated in the April 26, 1932, primary election with only 37.5% of the vote to incumbent Sen. James J. Davis' 60%. A third candidate received the remainder of the votes. [54] According to biographer Mark Strecker, Butler voted for Norman Thomas of the Socialist Party for president in 1936. [55]
Bonus Army Edit
During his Senate campaign, Butler spoke out forcefully about the veterans bonus. Veterans of World War I, many of whom had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression, sought immediate cash payment of Service Certificates granted to them eight years earlier via the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924. Each Service Certificate, issued to a qualified veteran soldier, bore a face value equal to the soldier's promised payment, plus compound interest. The problem was that the certificates (like bonds), matured 20 years from the date of original issuance, thus, under extant law, the Service Certificates could not be redeemed until 1945. In June 1932, approximately 43,000 marchers—17,000 of whom were World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—protested in Washington, D.C. [56] The Bonus Expeditionary Force, also known as the "Bonus Army", marched on Washington to advocate the passage of the "soldier's bonus" for service during World War I. After Congress adjourned, bonus marchers remained in the city and became unruly. On July 28, 1932, two bonus marchers were shot by police, causing the entire mob to become hostile and riotous. The FBI, then known as the United States Bureau of Investigation, checked its fingerprint records to obtain the police records of individuals who had been arrested during the riots or who had participated in the bonus march. [56] [57]
The veterans made camp in the Anacostia flats while they awaited the congressional decision on whether or not to pay the bonus. The motion, known as the Patman bill, was decisively defeated, but the veterans stayed in their camp. On July 19 Butler arrived with his young son Thomas, the day before the official eviction by the Hoover administration. He walked through the camp and spoke to the veterans he told them that they were fine soldiers and they had a right to lobby Congress just as much as any corporation. He and his son spent the night and ate with the men, and in the morning Butler gave a speech to the camping veterans. He instructed them to keep their sense of humor and cautioned them not to do anything that would cost public sympathy. [58] On July 28, army cavalry units led by General Douglas MacArthur dispersed the Bonus Army by riding through it and using gas. During the conflict several veterans were killed or injured and Butler declared himself a "Hoover-for-Ex-President-Republican". [59]
Lectures Edit
After his retirement and later years, Butler became widely known for his outspoken lectures against war profiteering, U.S. military adventurism, and what he viewed as nascent fascism in the United States. [ aanhaling nodig ]
In December 1933, Butler toured the country with James E. Van Zandt to recruit members for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). He described their effort as "trying to educate the soldiers out of the sucker class." In his speeches he denounced the Economy Act of 1933, called on veterans to organize politically to win their benefits, and condemned the FDR administration for its ties to big business. The VFW reprinted one of his speeches with the title "You Got to Get Mad" in its magazine Foreign Service. He said: "I believe in. taking Wall St. by the throat and shaking it up." [60] He believed the rival veterans' group the American Legion was controlled by banking interests. On December 8, 1933, he said: "I have never known one leader of the American Legion who had never sold them out—and I mean it." [61]
In addition to his speeches to pacifist groups, he served from 1935 to 1937 as a spokesman for the American League Against War and Fascism. [62] [63] In 1935, he wrote the exposé War Is a Racket, a trenchant condemnation of the profit motive behind warfare. His views on the subject are summarized in the following passage from the November 1935 issue of the socialist magazine Gesonde verstand: [15]
I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.
Business Plot Edit
In November 1934, Butler claimed the existence of a political conspiracy by business leaders to overthrow President Roosevelt, a series of allegations that came to be known in the media as the Business Plot. [64] [65] A special committee of the House of Representatives headed by Representatives John W. McCormack of Massachusetts and Samuel Dickstein of New York, who was later alleged to have been a paid agent of the NKVD, [66] heard his testimony in secret. [67] The McCormack–Dickstein committee was a precursor to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. [ aanhaling nodig ]
In November 1934, Butler told the committee that one Gerald P. MacGuire told him that a group of businessmen, supposedly backed by a private army of 500,000 ex-soldiers and others, intended to establish a fascist dictatorship. Butler had been asked to lead it, he said, by MacGuire, who was a bond salesman with Grayson M–P Murphy & Co. The New York Times reported that Butler had told friends that General Hugh S. Johnson, former head of the National Recovery Administration, was to be installed as dictator, and that the J.P. Morgan banking firm was behind the plot. Butler told Congress that MacGuire had told him the attempted coup was backed by three million dollars, and that the 500,000 men were probably to be assembled in Washington, D.C. the following year. All the parties alleged to be involved publicly said there was no truth in the story, calling it a joke and a fantasy. [67]
In its report to the House, the committee stated that, while "no evidence was presented. to show a connection. with any fascist activity of any European country. [t]here was no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution. " and that "your committee was able to verify all the pertinent statements made by General Butler, with the exception of the direct statement about the creation of the organisation. This, however, was corroborated in the correspondence of MacGuire with his principal, Robert Sterling Clark. " [68]
No prosecutions or further investigations followed, and historians have questioned whether or not a coup was actually contemplated. Historians have not reported any independent evidence apart from Butler's report on what MacGuire told him. One of these, Hans Schmidt, says MacGuire was an "inconsequential trickster". [69] [70] [71] [72] The news media dismissed the plot, with a New York Times editorial characterizing it as a "gigantic hoax". [73] When the committee's final report was released, the Tye said the committee "purported to report that a two-month investigation had convinced it that General Butler's story of a Fascist march on Washington was alarmingly true" and ". also alleged that definite proof had been found that the much publicized Fascist march on Washington, which was to have been led by Major Gen. Smedley D. Butler, retired, according to testimony at a hearing, was actually contemplated". [74] The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot, despite evidence to the contrary. Though the media ridiculed the allegations, a final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler's statements. [75] [n 1]
The McCormack–Dickstein Committee said of Butler's testimony in its final report, "In the last few weeks of the committee's official life it received evidence showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country. There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient." [75] [n 1] [n 2]
Upon his retirement, Butler bought a home in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where he lived with his wife. [76] In June 1940, he checked himself into the hospital after becoming sick a few weeks earlier. His doctor described his illness as an incurable condition of the upper gastro-intestinal tract that was probably cancer. His family remained by his side, even bringing his new car so he could see it from the window. He never had a chance to drive it. On June 21, 1940, Smedley Butler died at Naval Hospital, Philadelphia. [75]
The funeral was held at his home, attended by friends and family as well as several politicians, members of the Philadelphia police force and officers of the Marine Corps. [77] He was buried at Oaklands Cemetery in West Goshen Township, Pennsylvania. [78] Since his death in 1940, his family has maintained his home as it was when he died, including a large quantity of memorabilia he had collected throughout his varied career. [77]
Military awards Edit
Butler's awards and decorations included the following: [79] [5] [13] [80] [81] [n 3]
U.S. Army intervention [ edit | wysig bron]
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 [ aanhaling nodig ] 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 tear gas (adamsite, 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. ⎞ ]
Soldier Against Soldier: The Story of the Bonus Army
Soldiers who served in World War I were paid $1 a day, plus a 25-cent stipend for every day spent overseas. In 1924, Congress passed a law calling for every veteran of The Great War to receive an additional dollar for every day served. But the payment was not due for 20 years.
With the advent of the Great Depression, frustration over the delayed bonus turned to anger. A new bill was introduced in Congress to pay the bonus immediately. And thousands of veterans gathered in the nation's capital to demand their money.
Author Paul Dickson says the violence that followed has often been overlooked, and the impact on the 1932 presidential election underestimated. He is the co-author of a new book entitled The Bonus Army: An American Epic .
Dickson believes that what happened to the Bonus Army made politicians think long and hard when WWII veterans began to return. The result was the GI Bill, which Dickson credits with propelling millions into the middle class and changing the very fabric of the United States.
Revisiting the scene of the soldiers' camp on the Anacostia River, Dickson recounts the tale for Sheilah Kast.
Hoover & the Depression: The Bonus Army
16-year-old Fred Blancher later said, "These guys got in there and they start waving their sabers, chasing these veterans out, and they start shooting tear gas. There was just so much noise and confusion, hollering and there was smoke and haze. People couldn't breathe."
Around 11:00 p.m., MacArthur called a press conference to justify his actions. "Had the President not acted today, had he permitted this thing to go on for twenty-four hours more, he would have been faced with a grave situation which would have caused a real battle," MacArthur told reporters. "Had he let it go on another week, I believe the institutions of our Government would have been severely threatened."
Over the next few days, newspapers and newsreels (shown in movie theaters) showed graphic images of violence perpetrated on once uniformed soldiers (and their families), those who had won the First World War, by uniformed servicemen. In movie theaters across America, the Army was booed and MacArthur jeered. The incident only further weakened President Hoover's chances at re-election, then only three months away. Franklin, D. Roosevelt won easily.
July 28, 1932: Bonus Army Attacked
On July 28, 1932 the U.S. government attacked World War I veterans with tanks, bayonets, and tear gas, under the leadership of textbook heroes Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The WWI vets were part of a Bonus Army who came to Washington, D.C. to make a demand for their promised wartime bonuses.
To evict the Bonus Army marchers, troops donned gas masks, fixed bayonets, and, with sabers drawn, moved down Pennsylvania Ave. Source: National Archives
As Mickey Z. explains in the article below,
While they may have fought in Europe as a segregated army, the Bonus Army did not invite Jim Crow to this battle. Arriving from all over the country, alone or with wives and children, both Black and white veterans of huddled together, mostly across the Potomac River from the Capitol, in what were called ‘Hoovervilles,’ in honor of the president who adamantly refused to hear their pleas.
By Mickey Z.
“In the sad aftermath that always follows a great war, there is nothing sadder than the surprise of the returned soldiers when they discover that they are regarded generally as public nuisances. And not too honest.” — H.L. Mencken
Long before the cries of “support the troops” became commonplace during every brutal U.S. military intervention, the powers-that-be made it clear how much they intended to follow their own counsel.
From Shays Rebellion in 1787 to the quarter-million homeless vets today, generation after generation of U.S. military personnel has suffered a lack of support from their government. The American soldiers who fought in World War I were no exception. In 1924, WWI vets were voted “Adjusted Compensation” by Congress: $1.25 for each day served overseas, $1.00 for each day served in the States. To the “doughboys,” it was seen as a bonus.
Veterans owed $50 or less were paid immediately. Everyone else was given a certificate that would collect 4 percent interest with an additional 25 percent tacked on upon payment. However, there was a catch: the certificate was not redeemable until 1945. . . and a little something called “The Depression” was looming over the horizon.
One of the enlisted men stuck in such a predicament was Joe T. Angelo of Camden, New Jersey. In 1918, Private Angelo saved the life of a certain Major George S. Patton on a battlefield in France (Angelo was Patton’s orderly). For his efforts, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
In the spring and summer of 1932, disgruntled, broke, and unemployed veterans like Angelo got the idea to demand payment on the future worth of the aforementioned certificates. Anywhere from 17,000 to 25,000 former doughboys formed a Bonus Expeditionary Force (BEF), otherwise known as the “Bonus Army,” and — bonus certificates in hand — they marched on Washington to picket Congress and President Herbert Hoover.
While they may have fought in Europe as a segregated army, the men of the BEF did not invite Jim Crow to this battle. Arriving from all over the country, alone or with wives and children, both Black and white veterans of huddled together, mostly across the Potomac River from the Capitol, in what were called “Hoovervilles,” in honor of the president who adamantly refused to hear their pleas.
The House of Representatives passed the Patman Bill for veterans’ relief on June 15, 1932, but the bill met defeat in the Senate just two days later. More vets swarmed into the nation’s capital. Shacks, tents, and lean-tos continued to spring up everywhere, and the government and newspapers decided to play the communist trump card for the umpteenth time. Despite the fact that the BEF was made up of 95 percent veterans, the entire group were labeled “Red agitators” — tantamount to declaring open season on an oppressed group of U.S. citizens. Right on cue, Hoover called out the troops. . . led by three soon-to-be textbook heroes.
Bonus marchers face police and army, 1932. Source: National Archives
The commander of the operation was Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur, who branded the BEF traitors bent on overthrowing the government. . . declaring, “Pacifism and its bedfellow communism are all around us.” MacArthur’s young aide was none other than Dwight D. Eisenhower, while Patton led the Third Cavalry — which spearheaded the eventual eviction of the Bonus Army. Patton shared MacArthur’s hatred of “reds” and lectured his troops on how to deal with the BEF: “If you must fire do a good job — a few casualties become martyrs, a large number an object lesson. . . . When a mob starts to move keep it on the run. . . . Use a bayonet to encourage its retreat. If they are running, a few good wounds in the buttocks will encourage them. If they resist, they must be killed.”
The three military icons got their chance on July 28, 1932 when a scuffle by the BEF and D.C. police resulted in two fatally wounded veterans. The U.S. Army assault integrated four troops of cavalry, four companies of infantry, a machine gun squadron, and six tanks. When asked by BEF leader Walter Waters if the Hoovervilles campers would be “given the opportunity to form in columns, salvage their belongings, and retreat in an orderly fashion,” MacArthur replied: “Yes, my friend, of course.” But, after marching up Pennsylvania Avenue, MacArthur’s soldiers lobbed tear gas and brandished bayonets as they set fire to some of the tents. In a flash, the whole BEF encampment was ablaze.
“Disregarding orders — a common thread running through his career — MacArthur decided to finish the job by destroying the Bonus Army entirely,” historian Kenneth C. Davis writes. “After nightfall, the tanks and cavalry leveled the jumbled camps of tents and packing-crate shacks. It was put to the torch.”
Two veterans lost their lives in the assault and an eleven-week-old baby died from what was believed to be gas-related illness. In addition, an eight-year-old boy was partially blinded by gas, two police had their skulls fractured, and a thousand veterans suffered gas-related injuries.
In the smoldering aftermath, a dazed, rail thin Joe Angelo approached his old boss but was harshly rebuked. “I do not know this man,” Major Patton growled. “Take him away and under no circumstances permit him to return.”
The next day, the New York Times ran an article under the headline: “A Calvary Major Evicts Veteran Who Saved His Life in Battle.”
After this impressive military success, the members of the BEF were forced to leave Washington and many of them joined the other two million or so Americans who lived their lives on the road during the Great Depression.
“Some states, like California,” Davis notes, “posted guards to turn back the poor.”
Less than ten years later, MacArthur, Patton, and Eisenhower would be earning a place in history books by sending many of those same disenfranchised poor to grisly deaths on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a candidate for president in 1932. It is said that the day after the BEF eviction, he told an aide there was no longer any need for him to campaign against Herbert Hoover. He may have been right. . . but his subsequent election did little to help WWI veterans. FDR not only refused to pay the bonuses he also reappointed MacArthur as Army Chief of Staff.
Roosevelt did throw some veterans a New Deal bone when bonus seekers were given the opportunity to work in “Veterans Rehabilitation Camps” like those in the Florida Keys. There they met with an ignominious end on Labor Day 1935 when “a hurricane unlike any ever recorded in the United States” struck.
“Wind gusts estimated at two hundred miles an hour slammed into the work camps in Florida’s upper Keys, turning granules of sand into tiny missiles that blasted flesh from human faces,” write Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen in Bonus Army: An American Epic. “The storm brought death to at least 259 veterans. The final indignity was mass cremation.”
Despite such treatment, the legacy of the Bonus Army lives on not only in the passing of the G.I. Bill in 1944, but in every sit-down strike, every march, and every demonstration for economic justice. Soos die Washington Evening Star wrote during the Bonus Army’s stay in D.C., “These men wrote a new chapter on patriotism of which their countrymen could be proud.”
See the PBS documentary, “The March of the Bonus Army” and find more related resources below.
Active Army Enlistment Bonus : Qualified active duty recruits may be eligible for a combination of bonuses totaling up to $40,000. The maximum bonus for a three, four, five, or six-year contract is based on periodic updates and is subject to change. Recruiters will have the most up to date bonus information.
In the aftermath of World War I, millions of servicemen and women came home from an unprecedented war. Disabled veterans, who had been coming home before the war’s end, were offered physical and occupational rehabilitation through the Vocational Education Bureau.
BONUS ARMY
BONUS ARMY. In May 1932 thousands of World War I veterans began gathering in Washington, D.C., in order to pressure Congress to pass the Patman Bonus Bill. The legislation called for the immediate payment of war bonuses for World War I veterans. Under legislation passed with the approval of veterans groups in 1924, payments had been deferred, with interest, until 1945. But with the economic hardship of the depression, veterans clamored for immediate assistance.
The official response to the encampments (some including the mens' families) was initially benign. Washington, D.C., Police Superintendent Pelham Glassford, a veteran himself who was sympathetic toward the movement, set aside building space and campgrounds. At the height of the Bonus Army, between seventeen and twenty thousand veterans were encamped near the Washington Mall and at a site on the Anacostia River, forming the largest of the nation's Hoovervilles.
Although the House passed the Patman Veterans Bill, the Senate rejected its version on 17 June. When veterans protested by marching on Pennsylvania Avenue, police responded violently, resulting in the deaths of two veterans and two policemen. On 28 July President Hoover ordered the Secretary of War to disperse the protesters. In the late afternoon, cavalry, infantry, tanks, and a mounted machine gun pushed the Bonusers out of Washington. Although under orders from Hoover to show restraint, the troops injured more than one hundred veterans. General Douglas MacArthur sent troops into the Anacostia camp, directly disobeying Hoover's orders. A fire of unknown origin, although suspected of being started by the troops, burnt down most of the veterans' tents and other structures.
Hoover's public image suffered greatly as a result of the troops' actions, which helped Franklin Roosevelt win the presidential election a few months later. Although Roosevelt scored political points because of Hoover's missteps, he showed little sympathy for the veterans once in office. Congress passed, over his veto, a bill that paid out the bonuses in 1936, at a cost of $2.5 billion.
