Seventy-nine years ago today, the U.S. Army attacked American World War I veterans, their families and thousands of other citizens gathered in peaceful assembly in Washington, D.C. In March, and as the Depression mounted, an estimated 15,000 people flooded the nation’s capital demanding payment of their veterans’ service bonus. By June, 20,000 had amassed.
Calling themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force, but long remembered as the Bonus Army, the assembled multitude decided to occupy Washington until their grievances were addressed. The city’s rising heat and humidity intensified the escalating political crisis besieging the capital. Against a growing right-wing chorus claiming the veterans were commies, President Herbert Hoover ordered an end to the occupation.
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With the exception of the popular rallies held in Madison and a handful of other cities earlier this spring, Americans have been noticeably quiet in the face of the imposition of austerity. Mass protests against higher unemployment rates, mounting debt and growing foreclosures have yet to find a political voice.
