PAY THE BONUS
- A GREAT DEPRESSION TIMELINE BY JAMES MADISON KOHLER (NAPOLEON53) -
"I told that trigger-happy fool not to go down there. I told him it was no place for a Chief of Staff. If only we could have foreseen what tragedy it would have become, I would have disobeyed orders. May God forgive us."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, aide-de-camp to General Douglas MacArthur during the Bonus Army Massacre of July 28, 1932
- A GREAT DEPRESSION TIMELINE BY JAMES MADISON KOHLER (NAPOLEON53) -
"I told that trigger-happy fool not to go down there. I told him it was no place for a Chief of Staff. If only we could have foreseen what tragedy it would have become, I would have disobeyed orders. May God forgive us."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, aide-de-camp to General Douglas MacArthur during the Bonus Army Massacre of July 28, 1932
"Flash news bulletin! This is Jerome Jenkins for WFED, 1500 on the dial. Chaos has struck our fair Washington today after the Bonus Expeditionary Force march was brutally and utterly crushed by military and police forces. Chief of Staff MacArthur claimed he was under orders from President Hoover to disperse the throngs of angry Great War veterans and restore law and order. He also claimed that the makeshift organization had become a wing of Communists. General MacArthur personally led 1000 troops to remove the protesting vets from government property. However things have rapidly spiraled out of control after the Army opened fire on the mobs, killing and injuring at least 30, including several children. Reports of violence and civil unrest all across Washington are coming in now and we are getting told that a bomb inside of an automobile has exploded in front of the White House. We will bring you more as we have it. Now back to the Roaring Ragtime Orchestra Hour."
"Get me MacArthur! I will have that man's arrogant neck!" declared a vexed and panicking Hoover, pounding his fist against the desk of the Oval Office. His assorted staff of some twenty officials and officers were in there with him, sweat stains clearly showing through their uniforms and suits. "I tell that man to restore order and coax those people into going home and he shoves a bayonet in their back and mows them down like they were some of the Kaiser's boys!"
"Mr. President," an Army Captain barged in, "We need to evacuate, sir. We need to secure the capital and we can't do that with our President in danger. I would ask you all to-"
A ball of fire erupted on the White House lawn, rattling the windows and sending everyone to the floor, hands clutching their heads.
"Mr. President! We need to leave! Now!" shouted Vice President Curtis. "We need to evacuate immediately! We need to ensure continuation of government."
"Yes," said Hoover, picking himself up off the floor. "This is an attack on the US government. This is MacArthur's doing, and he's going to stay here and clean this disaster up. Prepare to leave."
It was July 28, 1932. Just days before in Germany, Reichswehr troops under Gerd von Rundstedt had seized control of Prussia following severe civil unrest and rioting. Political violence seemed to be sweeping the globe. And it was about to jump off Americans' newspaper pages and into their everyday life. It was July 28, 1932. At 12:03, the first shots rang out. Within seconds, total pandemonium gripped the US capital. At 1 pm, as Army troops began destroying the camps of the homeless BEF marchers, a 1925 Ford parked in front of the Hoover White House exploded, killing two police officers with a homemade bomb and maiming several civilians. The White House's iron fence was blown open by the homemade bomb and dozens of BEF rioters ran through the wreckage and began pelting President Hoover's residence with rocks and bottles.
President Hoover, Vice President Curtis, and hundreds of members of the government fled to a military base in Delaware. Violence erupted nationwide and angry veterans and citizens took to the streets overnight and when July 29 dawned, the world was watching as the United States teetered on the brink of total civil breakdown. How President Hoover handled the situation from this point on would determine the fate of the troubled nation. Whatever happened, a political storm was on the horizon that had not been seen since 1865...
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