Once upon a time, in May 1932, thousands of Americans who were out of work, out of money, and out of sorts, went to Washington for help. They were veterans seeking compensation for their service in the Great War that had been promised by Congress.

In 1924, Congress passed the World War Adjusted Compensation Act, which promised to pay veterans $1.25 for each day they served overseas and $1 for veterans who served in the states. Fair enough in 1924, but it had a catch. They couldn’t collect their service bonus until 1945.

In the meantime, the Great Depression slammed the economy, triggered in part by a stiff tariff, the Smoot-Hawley Act, on imported goods to protect American commerce. That tariff was met by reciprocal action overseas. Veterans and many others lost their jobs, homes, and were forced to line up at soup kitchens for food. A popular song, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime,” chronicled the times.

More than 17,000 gathered in Washington, some camping out on the National Mall and other D.C. locations. One encampment, on Anacostia Flats, was dubbed Hooverville, a nod to President Herbert Hoover. They called themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force. The press called them the Bonus Army. On June 17, 1932, the U.S. Senate defeated a bill that would’ve moved up the bonus payment schedule. Two policemen and two veterans were killed during a protest of that Senate action.

On July 28, the president ordered the army to clear them out. And they did. Led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his aide, Maj. Dwight Eisenhower ordered cavalry troops, under the command of Maj. George Patton marched through the camps, driving the vets out and destroying their tent cities. Not a shot was fired.

In a recent account in the Army Times, MacArthur blamed the movement on communists. But Eisenhower disagreed, saying in his memoir that he tried to dissuade MacArthur from personally leading the charge. He said in his diary that: “A lot of furor has been stirred up, but mostly to make political capital.” Patton said it was a “most distasteful form of service,”and praised both sides for their restraint. “It speaks volumes for the high character of the men that not a shot was fired. In justice to the marchers, it should be pointed out that had they really wanted to start something, they had a great chance here, but refrained.”

In 1970, after a series of days of anti-war protests that overwhelmed local officials, the Ohio Governor, decrying the protesters, sent the National Guard into the campus of Kent State University. On May 4, after they refused to disperse, the guardsmen pushed the protesters. Then, and no one is sure why it happened, some of the guardsmen opened fire, killing four students and wounding nine.

The Kent State shootings became one of the key points of the Vietnam War protests and anger against the government.

The point of this exercise is not to criticize the use of the National Guard to provide backup to local officials in extreme situations. That is what they are there for: to help out. But, there is always politics involved, and, perish the thought, sometimes things go off the rails and backfire on the well-meaning government officials.

There is no doubt that there is a crime problem in Washington, D.C. Over the years, mismanagement and outright corruption have helped exacerbate the situation. The defund the police movement piled on an already problematic situation, too. We all understand that no one likes to have an outsider come into their backyard and start giving orders. But no one is in favor of crime and bad guys. Democrats tagging the White House for imposing martial law in the district may run afoul of being tagged as pro-criminal. And the White House and GOP, already looking forward to the next election, would be happy to do just that.

But there is another landmine sitting in the brush waiting for someone to trigger it. Hoover, MacArthur, and the Army were able to push the bonus marchers out of the District without bloodshed. It was a different story at Kent State. Eisenhower said the Army's rout of the bonus marchers had political overtones. So, is the White House's insertion of guardsmen into the District’s streets a response to an emergency, or is it the latest ploy to divert attention from the persistent Epstein scandal that is being hung around their collective necks by some of their biggest MAGA supporters?

It’s a puzzlement.