Ever heard of the "Bonus Army" in WWI? Please take a look!
These men didn't get a bonus that was promised to them, in 1924, until a G.I. Bill was passed in 1944. Please take the time to read this.
The part I want to draw your attention to, is their protest in Washington, D.C. Notice how the government thought so very little of these WWI veterans. Tonight was the first time I had heard of the "Bonus Army", on a show called "History Detectives" on PBS.
...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.
Read the rest here...
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Aug05/MickeyZ0831.htm
This isn't correct. The
This isn't correct.
The "bonus" was paid in 1936 when Congress caved into pressure from veterans groups.
BTW, this was not something "promised" to the soldiers then taken away. It was a bonus (a "freebie" from the government) initiated long after the end of the first world war (1924). None of the soldiers who served in the military in WWI had any expectation of receiving this bonus. It was just given to them by congress in the '40s when the US government was running a little bit of a surplus.
The Bonus was supposed to be paid in 20 years. However, once the economy tanked during the depression, the veterans demanded an early payout of the bonus.
Essentially, the veterans were demanding that the government give them there unearned handout early rather than when originally scheduled- they raised enough hell, and eventually got what they wanted.
It was the taxpayers who got screwed here, not the veterans.
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These men didn't deserve the treatment they got from the gov't
I read back over this and have seen that I was wrong about when the money was to be paid. However, didn't these men fight in WWI without pay? Didn't they pay for their own uniforms? I don't feel the same way you do about the "taxpayers being screwed". These men didn't deserve to have their tents burned, tear gas used on them and tanks brought out to get rid of them. My point in this, was to show how the government treated these veterans.
Sorry to have not gotten my facts straight first.
They did get paid for their
They did get paid for their service in WWI- military pay wasn't anywhere near as good back then as it is now, but they were paid.
Yes, the government did overdo it in destroying the encampment in Washington (which I believe was in '32 when Hoover was still President- these marches went on for a period of years). However, when you have an encampment of tens of thousands of desperate, angry former soldiers, some of whom were armed, sitting just yards from the Capitol, you can understand why the government may have been a bit nervous.
My point is, however, that these veterans were not fighting for something promised to them, they were looking for a hand out from the government. In some cases, the veterans acted badly too- acting as an unruly mob of young, angry men.
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Thanks for the reply, point taken
Thanks for the post I understand what you are saying.
I was just thinking about how many were there and how could they have gotten them to leave. Maybe the government did feel this was the only way. I don't know. Their story still intrigues me.
Excuse me
They got over run by the U.S. calverey, while abiding in their tent city.Calverey was led by Gen.s Patton and Isenhower. the Bonus Army had the Moral support of Gen. Smedley Butler. Some did eventualy get some of the promised funds,But overall it was poorly handeld.
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bonus army
Yes, I learned of the bonus Army when I read a most exelent book titled "Unitented Consequences " I wonder why I never heard of this in public school ?
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so true
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