The War Against the Vets by Jerome Tuccille

Author:Jerome Tuccille [Tuccille, Jerome]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS027090 History / Military / World War I
ISBN: 978-1-64012-066-2
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 2018-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

11

Flames Light Up the Night

The troops, led by MacArthur in his staff car, crossed the bridge into Anacostia without missing a beat. “These guys got in there and they started waving their sabers, chasing these veterans out,” recalled Fred Blacher, who had followed in the wake of the marauding soldiers. “And they started shooting tear gas. There was just so much noise and confusion, hollering, and there was smoke and haze. People couldn’t breathe.” The gas was laced with adamsite, a riot control agent that induced nausea, dizziness, and even death when used in sufficient doses. It contained arsenic and had been used in chemical warfare during the Great War. MacArthur was resplendent in his starched uniform, with a wall of medals glittering on the left side of his chest. His troops set fire to the smaller campsites on the outskirts of Anacostia, thrashing anyone who got in their way with the flat sides of their sabers. Some of the bolder vets urged their comrades to take up whatever arms they could lay their hands on and fire back at the soldiers, but their situation was hopeless in the face of such overwhelming firepower.

Crowds lined the streets, hurling insults and taunting MacArthur and his forces for turning on the older combatants as the troops pushed on. “Down toward Anacostia the troops went, in a bruising affair all the way, with persons in the streets swinging blows at the soldiers as they swept past, the cavalry wielding sabers and the infantry prodding with bayonets,” the New York Times reported. Word reached the White House that MacArthur had overstepped his orders, and the frantic president was at a loss about how to rein in his chief of staff. He was caught in a bind. If he criticized MacArthur’s actions publicly it would look as though he had lost control of the situation and the military was in charge; if the attack on Anacostia resulted in bloodshed and loss of life the president was the one who would be taken to task. It was already too late, however. As Eisenhower wrote later, “While no troops went more than two or three hundred yards over the bridge” at this point, “that whole encampment started to blaze . . . a pitiful scene.” The troops set fire to everything as they moved ahead. The orange glow from the fires lit up the entire sky across the length and breadth of the city.

“Come on! Come on! The soldiers are going to kill us!” yelled the father of seven-year-old twins who had boxed for the vets during the exhibition. The boys were asleep in their tents when their father rousted them from their slumber. Another vet reported that he helped the women and children escape before the army could get to their campsites. Everywhere the vets and their families scampered for cover, some trying to start their jalopies, mothers screaming for their children, all of them racing as fast as they could toward the perimeter of the camp.

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