February 3, 2014 - On Aug. 2, 1932, William Hushka of 2316 W. 23rd Place, Chicago, was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, five days after he was killed when police and soldiers raided a shantytown occupied by World War I veterans in the nation's capital. "To the roll of muffled drums his flag draped casket was taken from its hearse ... and borne on the shoulders of eight buddies, some in khaki, some in rags, to the tent covered grave," the Tribune reported.On the day of Hushka's burial, another veteran died of wounds suffered during the attack, the cause and consequences of which have been debated ever since. According to an FBI report, "the police shot in necessary self-defense to save themselves from threatened fatal injury."
Hushka was among some 20,000 veterans, plus families and supporters, who had come to Washington to demand payment of a bonus Congress promised former GIs for their wartime service. Their Bonus March, as newspapers dubbed it, was animated by strong passions remarkably similar to those inflaming present-day disputes over public employees' pensions. read more>>>
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