Wars

November 9, 2007

I read the article in November 5, 2007 in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. About all the homeless veterans in this country.

It reminded me again of why I have no respect for the Government of the United States. Our veterans from all the wars, from 1790 to 2007, have been promised many things and our government have reneged on their word and treated them all so disgracefully. I have had relatives in all these wars. In the Civil war I had two great grandfathers and five great uncles. Three of the great uncles never returned. We never found out where they died. We never knew whether they were buried or they were left to rot and the vultures ate them. They were young men. The ones that did return had to walk and find their way home from wherever the war ended.

We finally got markers showing they were Civil War veterans and buried them in Spirit in the family cemetery next to their Father and Mother. Records, forget about it. This was on just one side of my family.
Either they didn’t keep records or they were burned by the union army. This was Americans fighting Americans. My daughter has searched by internet all the records available. Before that we traveled and searched courthouses and graveyards in many states. We searched through all the census records available. It is so sad that one can’t find what happened to the ones who died, and sadder yet to know what happened to the ones who returned, to realize that your country who turned their backs on you did not appreciate your fighting so bravely for them.

It has been the same in all the wars. In WW1 I had many relatives who went to Europe, some returned and some didn’t. Many of the ones who did return had been gassed and were in poor health all their lives, but they still had to farm or run sawmills to make a living, believe me neither one is an easy way to make a living, at least they could eat by having a garden, hunting and fishing in the swamps.

Many died along with their families when influenza hit, old veterans and young ones. I am now 80 years old and I remember the veterans from WW1 talking about the war. One, a cousin whose farm was next to ours, he died January 3, 1965. He was in the outfit that was headed by Capt. Douglas MacArthur in Europe. He was gassed and nearly didn’t make it home. I am going to quote an article called, “The Bonus Army”.

In 1924, a grateful Congress voted to give a bonus to the World War 1 veterans. $1.25 for each day served overseas, $1.00 for each day served in the States. The catch was that payment would not be made until 1945. However, by 1932 the nation had slipped into dark days of the Depression and the unemployed veterans needed and wanted their money immediately.

In May of that year, some 15,000 veterans, many unemployed and destitute, descended on Washington, D.C. to demand immediate payment of their bonus. They proclaimed themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force but the public dubbed them the “Bonus Army”.
Raising ramshackle camps at various places around the city, they waited.

The veterans made their largest camp at Anacostia Flats across the river from the Capitol. Approximately 10,000 veterans, women and children lived in the shelters built from materials dragged out of a junk pile nearby – old lumber, packing boxes and scrap tin covered with roofs of thatched straw.

Discipline in the camp was good, despite the fears of many city residents who spread unfounded “Red Scare” rumors. Streets were laid out, latrines dug, and formations held daily. Newcomers were required to register and prove they were bonafide veterans who had been honorably discharged. Their leader, Walter Waters, stated, “We’re in for the duration and we’re not going to starve. We’re going to keep ourselves a simon-pure veterans organization. If the Bonus is paid it will relieve to a large extent the deplorable economic condition.

June 17 was described by a local newspaper as the “tensest day in the capitol since the war.” The Senate was voting on the bill already passed by the House to immediately give the vets their bonus money. By dusk, 10,000 marchers crowded the Capitol grounds expectantly awaiting the outcome. Walter Waters, leader of the Bonus Expeditionary Force, appeared with bad news. The Senate had defeated the bill by a vote of 62 to 18. The crowd reacted with stunned silence. “Sing America and go back to your billets” he commanded, and they did. A silent “Death March” began in front of the Capitol and lasted until July 17, when Congress adjourned.

A month later, on July 28, Attorney General Mitchell ordered the evacuation of the veterans from all government property, entrusted with the job, the Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two marchers killed. Learning of the shooting at lunch, President Hoover ordered the army to clear out the veterans. Infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks were dispatched with Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur in command. Major Dwight D. Eisenhower served as is liaison with the Washington police and Major George Patton led the cavalry.

By 4:45 P.M. the troops were massed on Pennsylvania Ave. below the Capitol. Thousands of Civil Service employees spilled out of work and lined the streets to watch. The veterans, assuming the military display was in their honor, cheered. Suddenly Patton’s troopers turned and charged. “Shame, Shame” the spectators cried. Soldiers with fixed bayonets followed, hurling gas into the crowd.

By nightfall the BEF retreated across the Anacostia River where Hoover ordered MacArthur to stop. Ignoring the command, the general led his infantry to the main camp. By early morning the 10,000 inhabitants were routed and the camp in flames. Two babies died and nearby hospitals overwhelmed with casualties. Eisenhower later wrote, “the whole scene was pitiful.” The veterans were ragged, ill-fed, and felt themselves badly abused. To suddenly see the whole encampment going up in flames just added to the pity.

(How to Cite This Article: “The Bonus Army” Eyewitness to History, www.eyewitnesshistory.com (2000)

What I have quoted here is not all of the article. I originally read the full story in the Smithsonian several years ago. The people were helped by some of the more wealthy matrons in Washington. Had all of the veterans been able to go to Washington with this group, we would probably had another Civil War. Or if all of the veterans had known about this, there would have been no more patriotism when WW11 came along. Many people did not get newspapers unless they had to go into town or someone wrote them about what was going on in the world. The government sure didn’t let you know. The only time they came around, was for taxes, or try to catch people making whiskey. But they sure let you know what was going on when they needed all our young men to fight wars on their behalf. Same old lies and promises again.

I had a husband who was a pilot in WW11 in Europe and many, many relatives, some came home and some didn’t. I have my three cornered flag, from a cousin who my parents helped raise. His body lies at the
bottom of the South China Sea, 200 miles south of the Formosa Strait. He was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese in the Philippines, May 6, 1942 and held in the Cabanatuan Camp No.1, until October 10, 1944. He was placed on the Arisan Maru, with 1800 other American prisoners being transferred to Japan. The Arisan Maru was torpedoed by the USS Snook on October 24, 1944. Not more than 10 americans survived the sinking. He was 22 years old. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Citation of Honor, all signed by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. And the bastards didn’t even spell his name right, and we tried to get the government to correct it and they wouldn’t. I don’t consider it an honor, even though lots of people consider it an honor.
We buried him in spirit in the Family Cemetery, by our other family veterans. I will never forgive or forget.

WW11 veterans were to some extent treated better than the WW1 veterans, but none have since. I hate war, I do not salute the flag, as it is only a symbol, nor am I patriotic. A quote from Guy de Maupassant, “Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched.” I love all people of every nationality and it is too bad that the government and leaders of all countries are greedy, corrupt warmongers and waste so many human lives. That is not what the Supreme Power God put us on this earth for. He said live in peace. Until all the people in the world who believe this rise up and put a stop to it, it will never cease until the end. We all have to die, but after we have lived our lives, not have it ended in a war for naught.