We actually did have unemployed (a lot of homeless as well) veterans revolt back in 1932 during the Great Depression, demanding early payment of their service bonus certificates.
About 43,000 of them camped with their families on the White House lawn for a while, and the president at the time, Herbert Hoover, sent tanks and bayonets in and they killed a few people and injured dozens. Patton led the charge and Eisenhower wrote the military report endorsing the action (though he claims he told Patton not to do it). It was called the “Bonus Army” if you want to do some more reading.
Some of them were also suspected of being involved with the Business Plot, which would have ushered in a Nazi dictatorship. Luckily they approached the wrong general to carry out the plot, but the plan was to use the Bonus Army to do it since they found enough sympathizers to go along with it.
Who knows, though. Had they approached officers in charge of the Bonus Army directly, maybe they would have been rebuffed all the same.
1932, that’s older than Joe Biden
Also it’s ignoring an important part, most U.S. army members aren’t from poor families anymore, most can afford not killing kids for a job.
We actually did have unemployed (a lot of homeless as well) veterans revolt back in 1932 during the Great Depression, demanding early payment of their service bonus certificates.
About 43,000 of them camped with their families on the White House lawn for a while, and the president at the time, Herbert Hoover, sent tanks and bayonets in and they killed a few people and injured dozens. Patton led the charge and Eisenhower wrote the military report endorsing the action (though he claims he told Patton not to do it). It was called the “Bonus Army” if you want to do some more reading.
Some of them were also suspected of being involved with the Business Plot, which would have ushered in a Nazi dictatorship. Luckily they approached the wrong general to carry out the plot, but the plan was to use the Bonus Army to do it since they found enough sympathizers to go along with it.
Who knows, though. Had they approached officers in charge of the Bonus Army directly, maybe they would have been rebuffed all the same.
That’s wild, I’ve never heard this side of the story!
The general they approachedbwas Smedley Butler (I forgot to mention). He wrote War is a Racket, which you’ve probably heard of or read.
1932, that’s older than Joe Biden Also it’s ignoring an important part, most U.S. army members aren’t from poor families anymore, most can afford not killing kids for a job.
They were also conscripts from WW1, not volunteer mercenaries who joined up with glee to kill Muslims