"By 1932 the nation was in the middle of the Great Depression, and in May of that year about fifteen thousand unemployed and penniless veterans camped on the Mall in Washington DC to petition for immediate payment of their bonuses. The Senate defeated the bill to move up disbursement by a vote of sixty-to to eighteen. A month later President Hoover ordered the army to clear out the veterans' encampment. Army chief of staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded the troops, supported by six tanks. Major Dwight D. Eisenhower was the liaison with the Washington police, and Major George Patton was in charge of the cavalry. Soldiers with fixed bayonets charged, hurling tear gas in to the crowd of veterans. The next morning the Mall was deserted and the camp was in flames. The veterans never received their pensions" (p. 188).
from Bessel van der Kolk's "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
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