Speaking of Veterans: The Bonus Army March, 1932
Today is officially Veterans Day in the United States, though much commemoration occurred yesterday, November 11th. This holiday coincides with remembrance of the end of the First World War eighty-nine years ago. A recent article in Street Sense about homelessness among veterans today made me think of the Bonus Army March on Washington in 1932. What was it about their experience in the Great War and Great Depression that made so many veterans coalesce into such a powerful movement?
MacArthur put down the protest violently and the veterans never received an early payout of their promised bonuses. Still, did their movement achieve something? Did it prepare officials and public opinion to treat the next generation of veterans more honorably? It would seem so, though I am not sure about the generations that came after the Second World War. Short memories. Today the public receives its most recent vets with open arms, because it remembers how poorly it treated Vietnam vets, but to what extent is this rhetoric being matched by government programs?
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons. See Google Images for more.
Stoneman’s Corner
- Book Review: GDR and Consumption January 13, 2013
- Teaching Notes: Synthesis and Process September 29, 2012
- Hist 499-005: Gender and Class in Modern Europe August 18, 2012
- Reflections after Class July 3, 2012
- Requiring Students to Use Chicago Style (or Turabian or Whatever) June 14, 2012
- Military History Conference May 13, 2012
- Syllabus for Hist 606: Themes in European History II May 3, 2012
- Command Culture by Jörg Muth April 28, 2012
- Who Should Groener’s Schlieffen Plan Matter To? March 18, 2012
- Hist 499-003: Gender and Class in Modern Europe (Required Books) March 7, 2012
“But to what extent is this rhetoric being matched by government programs?”That’s an excellent question Mark. One that is not so easily answered. I know of a few, with the second one, U.S. Vets, mentioned in my post today is an easy favorite that does receive some govt. funding. What I did not include my post was that more than 200,000 veterans will 200,000 veterans will sleep on the streets of our nation tonight. There would be even more without programs like U.S. Vets. All my best, Rich