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The Bonus Army consisted of 17,000 World War I veterans and their families who occupied Washington, D.C., in 1932. They requested early payment of their bonuses because of the dire straights of many due to the depression. Congress had originally promised the bonus be paid in 1945.

Even the very popular Marine Corps General Smedley Butler visited the camps to encourage them and lend his prestige. However, in July U.S. Attorney General William D. Mitchell ordered the veterans removed. President Herbert Hoover ordered Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur to drive out The Bonus Army.

History Marches On & Repeats Itself

General MacArthur, supported by six battle tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, charging cavalry, infantry with fixed bayonets, and chemical vomiting agents (these sensory irritants irritate the mucous membranes to produce congestion, coughing, sneezing, and eventually nausea.) The troops charged into the camps to disperse the veterans, wives, and children while burning their shelters and belongings.

Bonus Army Marches on Washington, DC 1932

In hindsight, the fiasco can only be viewed as a black eye for the government as a whole and the soon to be distinguished military leaders individually.

The turn of events in Oakland places in doubt, at best, at government's ability to deal with the protesters in a peaceful manner. We must remember, above all else, that the right to redress our government is a time honored constitutional right.

The Class War Has Begun

By Frank Rich - New York Magazine

"And the very classlessness of our society makes the conflict more volatile, not less.

"What’s as intriguing as Occupy Wall Street itself is that once again our Establishment, left, right, and center, did not see the wave coming or understand what it meant as it broke. Maybe it’s just human nature and the power of denial, or maybe it’s a stubborn strain of all-­American optimism, but at each aftershock since the fall of Lehman Brothers, those at the top have preferred not to see what they didn’t want to see."

Read The Entire Article

Frank Rich discusses his article with Rachel Maddow

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Recommended Book

A Force More Powerful: A Century of Non-Violent Conflict
Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (October 5, 2001)
Language: English

Click here for more info and/or to order this book on Amazon.

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