WARNING TO VETS: US government shot WW1 veterans dead

US government shot WW1 veterans dead

It was a protest of more than 43,000 marchers-17,000 WW1
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. The world war adjusted compensation act of 1924 had
awarded them a payment in the form of certificates they could not redeem until
1945.

The main demand of the march was the immediate cash payment
of their certificates.

Retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, one of
the most popular military figures of the time, visited their camp to back the
effort and encourage them. On July 28, U.S. Attorney General William D Mitchell
ordered the veterans removed from all government property. Washington police met with resistance, shots were fired and two veterans were wounded and later died.


William Hushka (1895–1932) When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917,
he sold his butcher shop in St. Louis
Missouri and joined the United
States Army. After the war he lived in Chicago. Hushka is buried in Arlington national cemetery.

Eric Carlson (1894 – July 28, 1932) was a U.S. veteran from Oakland, California.He fought in the trenches of France in World War I. He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

·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

Veterans were also shot dead at other locations during the
demonstration. President Herbert Hoover then ordered the army to clear the
veterans' campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the
infantry and cavalry supported by six tanks. The veteran marchers with their
wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned.

 

Poll

What Should have happened instead ? (Total votes: 201)

The government made a monumental mistake by using force. The government should have tried diplomacy and negotiation. The veterans should have stormed the building and start a revolution. The government should have kept its word and paid its armed forces. The government should have arrested all the protesters. The veterans should have fought back with guns.

Vote!