The Battle of Anacostia Flats
(In July of 1932, thousands of Veterans of WWI marched/encamped
on Washington,D.C. demanding the ‘BONUS’ they had been promised
for their service in the ‘Great War’.)
On steps of the Pentagon
stood MacArthur, Eisenhower and Georgie Patton.
Jackboots proudly polished and shining.
Pointing with riding crops
at men who served their nation
and would now die.
Fellow soldiers they once commanded.
Men they would now condemn.
Men exasperated by borrowed scripts of promises.
Men with families far removed from the well—to—do.
We saw these dream-starved men of the Bonus Army,
encamped in hovels and gasping for dreams
on a hot July—day of anonymous martyrs in ‘32.
Have you ever been to Washington?
Is there any monument to these veterans?
Where, in our country’s capitol,
Men were burned alive on that avenue.
Where we erect statues to those stonefaced figures,
Fiery 'gods-of-war' who triumphed.
At least in the history books that footnote
when unarmed out-of-work men
wished for merely what was due.
Innocent countrymen sent to fight the Kaiser
who came back with horrified eyes.
Throats burned by poison fumes of hate
rasping in an air of lost consciousness.
Not from tear—gas cannisters, but from betrayal.
A generation of patriots lost stuck like flies in the residue
of supposed military greatness as
future American—heroes ordered tanks
and squadrons of cavalry, sabres drawn,
to rout villainous desperados in a dreadful hour
which demanded blood, that hot July day of ‘32.
And yes, on that day, there were men stabbed
straight through.
And when you go to Washington
will you remember what we’ve done?
How we repaid those forgotten few.
How our country was wounded in spirit.
How we made war upon each other.
How ten thousand men cried.
How a nation of guns and swords,
was renewed in blood
on that July day of ‘32.
Author notes
for#11 historic
A contest entry
- Let's Get the Ink Flowing!!! by Auburn Sunrise.
1800 points, ended March 16, 2008, 30 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
The Battle of Anacostia Flats
Comments
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Wow.
I am stunned into near silence.
I have to gather my wits about me. I read this several times in a row, attempting to take it all in.
First of all, I was once a history major (yes, history was my first love)... and I sure as hell never learned anything about this. Granted, American history is not my forte (I prefer Russian, French, and Ancient histories), and our schools do tend to color things in a more positive tint (at least try to make America look better).
I am impressed with your knowledge and the way you conveyed this horrific story.
I love America. Don't get me wrong, I am proud and I know I'm lucky to live here. I honor the brave men who have sacrificed their lives for my freedom. I always support the soldiers.
However, with that said, there are moments in our country's history that turn me scarlet with shame. We were blood-thirsty from the beginning though, weren't we?
Thanks for the awesome write and the history lesson! I'd love to learn more from you - hear about what you know that I don't!
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aw a history major eh? my thoughts 'run' in a myriad of views at a given moment i 'enjoyed' the study of relatively ancient happenings - as far as 'learning' from me - well i don't know quite a lot AND i am fascinated with minutiae AND am a fount of useless info - as far as being 'bloodthirsty' from the beginning YES the human race was/is apparently quite violent/murderous at times i.e. the old testament G-D instructs GIDEON 'that innocent/untrammeled man' to kill all his male captives and GIDEON does not - ah is the fact he does allow all the evil 'seed'[hitler, pol-pot, stalin, jeff dahmer, etc] to germinate that is IS EVIL CREATED OR IS IT NURTURED? hmmm....but you probably were referring to US history - more complex than you/or i can imagine in AMERICAN history i definitely believe in 'divine providence' as far as this nation is concerned - examples are too numerous/time consuming to list here but let me through-out afew off the top of my head: the AMERICAN REVOLUTION - how did a bunch of back-woods hunters and effete farm owners beat/subdue the mightiest empire since the so-called pax romana? could it be that certain of our AMERICAN LEADERS were 'MASONS' and that LEADING GENERALS OF THE BRITT ARMY WERE ALSO 'BOTHER MASONS'[at the time of the FRENCH&INDIAN WAR in the AMERICAN COLONIES it can be proved that85% of all BRITT REGIMENTS in the new world had 'MASONIC 'LODGES'] the fact that the HOWE BROTHERS GENERAL+ADMIRAL,GENERAL CLINTON were MASONS and GENERAL JOHNNY BURGOYNE was not --- AMERICAN GENERAL 'GRANNY' GAGE was a MASON surely could/would not effect the battle of SARATOGA would it??? i can prove that it was a 'shad-bake' that doomed GENERAL LEE and the 'REBELLION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES SECESSION' in 1865!!! yes 'manifest destiny' was terrible and all what this nation inflicted upon the BLACKS, NATIVE AMERICANS, HISPANICS, CHINESE, but but - this nation survived+prospered --- same goes for the LABOR UNIONS LYNCHINGS whatever ah you are saying/thinking this guy's nutso a 'divine plan' for AMERICA at the start of WWII we shouldn't have won against the superior military abilities of GERMANY+JAPAN so how did we 'win? ah you can give me facts+figures about production of panes, tanks, ships and still i ask you why did we win? let's go to the beginnings of our history why/how diD that 'fog' blanket WASHINGTON'S DEFEATED TROOPS allowing them to escape from the BRITTS in NewYorkCity after the disaster on long-island? BUT I HAVE RAMBLED/RANTED TOO MUCH THIS A.M. - ANYWAY much thanks for your read/kind comments thank you again regards your most humble servant Zyskandar A Jaimot
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You just proved me right...
you do have a vast knowledge of history.
Fascinating analysis of both American history and the development of mankind.
You didn't ramble at all. It was all very interesting and I agree on most points.
Thank you,
Allie -
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thanks much regards zaj
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much thanks regards zaj
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love the flow of this poem..... I will be back to read more of your work
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much thanks for the qwik-look/please do so rehards zaj
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this is a good piece of poetry which you have penned here with style and grace, the emotions flowing from the mind to the page with a subtle ease and understanding. good luck in the contest.
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much thanks for the read/too-gracious comments regards zaj
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another history lesson for me. Here in England we are just beginning to remove words such as 'dishonoured' 'coward' 'deserter' from the memory of very young men who ran in fear from their own officers as well as the enemy in that dreadful Ist world war, so that their families can finally honour them for even being there.
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in the 'states' we have a habit of being too-quick to judge - anyone should be honoured for service to his/her country much thanks for the read/comments regards zaj[although i don't feel that any words should be removed from useage - even the most foul epithets we label others with - i am old enough to remember the terriffic movie + remakes of the 'white feather' or 'four feathers' or something like that about supposed cowardice in the SUDAN and at KHARTOUM much thanks for the read/comments regards zaj
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