War is a Racket | The Invasion of Veracruz Part 1 | Ep 5

The Invasion of Veracruz Part 1 |

The President of the United States has refused to recognize the leader of a sovereign nation, US oil interests are in danger, and the use of military force has been authorized. It’s April 1914, and Woodrow Wilson has sent battleships to the port of Veracruz, Mexico. The invasion plan is set. Smedley D. Butler will lead his marines ashore, take the Customs House, then take the city. 

Smedley D. Butler received 16 medals during his distinguished career in the United States Marines, including two Medals of Honor. He receives his first Medal of Honor after leading his men in urban combat during the 1914 Invasion of Veracruz. After he retires in 1931, Smedley D. Butler becomes very vocal about US Foreign Policy and his speeches are turned into a short book titled War is a Racket. 

In 1932, Butler boosts morale when he makes an appearance at the Bonus Army camp in Washington D.C. The Bonus Army protestors had been in the nation's capital that summer to petition Congress for early payment of the bonus promised to them for their service in The Great War. Their request is denied, and President Herbert Hoover wants them out of the city. 

The United States Army is called in and a violent conflict between active soldiers and veterans plays out on the streets of Washington. 

Music from Epidemic Sound.

Sources for this episode include:

• Gangsters of Capitalism by Jonathan M. Katz
• Maverick Marine by Hans Schmidt
• Old Gimlet Eye by Lowell Thomas

Transcript

Shannon 0:17

In the summer of 1932, three years into the Great Depression in the United States, protesters descended on the nation's capital. They had set up camp, a Hooverville, on the Anacostia Flats in southeast Washington, D.C. And they'd been marching to and from the Capitol building and all over Washington that summer. At one point, their numbers had swelled to over 40,000. Mostly men, but also women and children. They were hungry and homeless. And President Herbert Hoover wanted them gone. On July 28, 1932, the DC police tried to clear the protesters out. The protesters rioted, and two were shot and killed. And that's when Hoover called in the cavalry. Federal troops assembled on Pennsylvania Avenue. Soldiers on horseback led the charge, followed by tanks, machine gunners, then infantry. The army pushed the protesters down Pennsylvania Avenue using bayonets and tear gas. The protesters fought back with the only weapons they had. Bricks and epithets. Then they crossed the 11th Street Bridge into their encampment. But the soldiers weren't yet done with them. They also crossed the 11th Street Bridge. Thousands of men, women, and children were forced to flee. The general leading the charge that day was Douglas A. MacArthur. His aide, Dwight D. Eisenhower. And the protesters were World War One veterans. And this is that American Century. Yes, and that that's what Ike will say about this instance later on. In 1964, actually, after MacArthur's dead and after Eisenhower's presidency. These protesters were called the Bonus Army and the Bonus Expeditionary Force. They were in Washington because in 1924, Congress passed the World War Adjusted Compensation Act, a bonus for service. And this is why they're called the Bonus Army. The Bonus Expeditionary Force. The Act said that each veteran would get a dollar for each day of their domestic service, up to a maximum of $500, which is about $10,000 in 2026, and $1.25 for each day of overseas service, up to a maximum of $625, which is about $12,000 in 2026. Amounts of $50 or less were immediately paid back in 1924, but all other amounts were issued as certificates of service maturing in 20 years. So they passed the act in 1924. They're not gonna get their money until 1945, but they could sure use it now in the middle of the Great Depression.

Bobby 4:48

Of course.

Shannon 5:04

He vetoed it. And he said, quote, patriotism bought and paid for is not patriotism. But Congress can override a presidential veto if two-thirds of both the House and the Senate vote to override it. They did, and it became law. There were two casualties that day during the bonus army protest. About 55 injured and over 100 arrested. And the two deaths were veterans that were shot by the DC police. This was before the army was called in. And a baby passed away. The baby's parents said that it was because of the tear gas. But the Hoover administration said that the baby died from a preexisting intestinal condition. I'm not sure how the Hoover administration got a hold of that baby's probably non-existent medical records. Also disputed is who set fire to the veterans' camp. The army said it was the veterans, the veterans said it was the army. One of the veterans who was part of the bonus army was a man named Joe T. Angelo. During the Meuse Argonne offensive of the Great War, he had saved the life of the tank commander that he was serving under, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. On the battlefield in 1918, within 40 meters of German machine guns, Private Angelo carried his wounded commanding officer who had been shot in the leg. He carried him into a shell hole, and he remained with him under continuous shellfire for over an hour, except when he twice carried orders to passing tanks. But now, in 1932, these two men were on opposite sides of a conflict. Angelo was one of the defeated veteran protesters. And his former commanding officer was part of the army attacking and tear gassing fellow countrymen. The day after the clash between the veterans and the United States Army, when the fires ended and the smoke and the dust had settled, Jo Angelo spotted his tank commander and approached him. But the man whose life he had saved disavowed him. He said, I do not know this man. Take him away and under no circumstances permit him to return.

Bobby 8:16

Wow. Wow. Do we know if if what his motivation was? Was it, you know, did Patton view this as even though you saved my life, you are not acting like what I think a soldier or the way a soldier should act? Or is is that what it what it was, or was it or was Patton?

Shannon 8:37

It could it could have been that in that moment, a few months later, Patton would say that he realized that these men, they were just hungry. They were just destitute, and he had a lot more compassion for them. When Joe Angelo received the distinguished Service Cross for saving Patton's life, in a newspaper article, Patton said that this was the bravest man that he'd ever met. This was the bravest man in all the world. And then I read that after this incident of the bonus army, his reason for disavow was that over the years he thought that Joe Angelo had embellished what he did for Patton. And Patton was angry about that. A few months later, Patton would show more sympathy to the veterans, as I mentioned. And he would say that they were just desperate men who had no evil intent. And he thought that this was no way to handle civil unrest, and he called it a most distasteful form of service. Eisenhower thought MacArthur's actions were foolish, but as his aid, he had to obey orders. MacArthur, however, believed the protesters were insurrectionists and Bolshevik revolutionaries, and this was an attack on the government backed by Moscow. In his memoirs, MacArthur called the veterans disillusioned, lost, and said, quote, the American Communist Party planned a riot of such proportions that it was hoped the United States Army, in its efforts to maintain peace, would have to fire on the marchers. The Communists hoped to incite revolutionary action. End quote. Was this a Moscow-backed operation? Or was it hungry, shoeless, homeless veterans that wanted help from the country they put their lives on the line for? And there were communists there. That was true. And there were criminals, petty criminals with citations for public drunkenness and more serious criminals. There were over a hundred arrests that day, and some of them had fingers on file.

Bobby 11:19

Some of them even had fingers.

Shannon 11:23

Some of them had fingerprints on file. Yeah, absolutely. And the veterans would regularly kick the communists out of their camp and the criminals out of their camp. To gain entry into the camp, you had to prove that you were a veteran. And there were there were thousands that came to Washington that summer. Some with their wives and children. They lived in tents and shacks built out of scraps of lumber, tin, boxes, and other materials salvaged from a junkyard nearby. And they created streets, a sanitation facility, a church tent. Like Burning Man, but much, much darker. But Burning Man is possible because of these veterans.

Bobby 12:22

Sure, that's what the that's the legacy they wanted to leave, I'm sure.

Shannon 12:25

I think so.

Bobby 12:27

We wanted to pave the way for Burning Man and also eat. Yeah.

Shannon 12:35

Supporters would come through and give speeches, and one of those speakers was your boy, General Smedley D. Butler.

Bobby 12:45

Oh, that's one of my boys.

Smedley D. Butler 12:49

Makes me so damn mad a whole lot of people speak of you as tramps. By God, they didn't speak of you as tramps in 1917 and 18. Oh. Let me tell you, let me tell you something. I've been all over the world. I've seen you fellas on the streets in Washington. There isn't this well-behaved group of citizens in the world have sitting right in the chat. Take it from me. This is the greatest demonstration of Americanism we've ever had. Pure Americanism. Willing to take this beating as you've taken it. Stand right steady. You keep every law. And why in the hell shouldn't Who in the hell has done all the bleeding for this country and for this law and this constitution anyhow, but you fellas?

Shannon 13:39

Smedley D. Butler accrued 16 medals during his career, including two medals of honor. After he retired from the Marines in 1931, Butler becomes very vocal about American foreign policy. He would go on speaking tours, and his speeches would be turned into a short book titled War is a Racket. And in his book, he writes, quote, A racket is best described as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group know what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the very many. Out of war, a few people make huge fortunes. The flag follows the dollar, and the soldiers follow the flag.

Bobby 14:44

Yeah. I mean, I've heard them all.

Shannon 14:49

Butler's point of view should be considered pretty valuable because he had participated in many American imperialism projects. He had been in Cuba, the Philippines, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic. He had also protected U.S. business interests and American missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion in China. And on April 21st, 1914, he leads his Marine battalion in the invasion at Veracruz. So I've brought us back to Mexico 1914, Bobby. Months before the Great War begins, President Wilson's first big foreign policy foray. The invasion of Veracruz. Headlined The Grim War is on in Mexico. Major Butler's record of bravery. Major Smedley D. Butler is known in the Marines as Gimletye and the fighting Quaker. His engagement today marks his 15th expedition and the 45th time he has been under fire. Colonel Roosevelt once characterized Butler as the ideal American soldier. He equipped himself and his men, numbering 1,000 for this particular work by special training in Panama. Major Butler is the best-known young officer in the Marines, the most experienced, the best tactician, and the most daring. He has the record of the Peking and Philippine campaigns, and the recent rebellion in Nicaragua to guide him in what will be a similar campaign in Mexico. End of quote. Bobby, we know the president is unable to declare war. Only Congress is allowed to declare war. But the president is allowed to use military force when he wants. Only five wars. And six of those eleven declarations of war fall under World War II because there's a declaration of war for each country.

Bobby 17:58

I see.

Shannon 17:59

So World War II, declaration of war against Japan, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania. So that leaves five other declarations of war. Can you can you guess what what the other ones are?

Bobby 18:16

I would say can we include the American Revolution? Because that would be the Continental Congress, right?

Shannon 18:22

No, but I but I love that question.

Bobby 18:25

Okay. War of 1812?

Shannon 18:27

Correct.

Bobby 18:29

Would the civil war count?

Shannon 18:31

No.

Bobby 18:31

War declaring war against okay.

Shannon 18:33

No. Um but another great question.

Bobby 18:37

Yeah. I'm looking for five more, right? Okay. Uh Korea? No. Oh, Korea was never declared? No. I know Vietnam was never there was never a declaration. Iraq? No. Never? For for both of the Iraq wars? Nope. I don't think Afghanistan was. Nope. Barbary pirates? Going way back? Nope. Okay, World War I.

Shannon 18:58

Right. Right. And ha and you can knock off two.

Bobby 19:00

Because it'll be Germany.

Shannon 19:02

Uh-huh.

Bobby 19:02

Austria, Hungary. Okay. So that's two.

Shannon 19:06

So you've got you've got three. You're looking for two more.

Bobby 19:09

I just need two. I just need two more declarations of war. Just two more.

Shannon 19:12

They they uh happen in the 19th century. Oh, Spain. Correct. One more. One more.

Bobby 19:18

And Mexico. Very Mexican American War.

Shannon 19:20

Very good. Very good. And throughout the 20th century, the power of the US President to use military force greatly expands. In 1973, Congress tries to restrict the president's power with the War Powers Resolution Act. What the president has to do within within 48 hours of using military force, he has to deliver a report to Congress saying, This is this is why I did it. And then he has 60 days to continue that operation, to continue using force. And in that 60 days, Congress can authorize the use of military force, which happened with Afghanistan, Iraq, many other military operations.

Bobby 20:13

Okay, so those were authorizations, not declarations of war.

Shannon 20:17

Right. A UMF's authorized use of military force. But also precarious is the definition of what hostilities are. So that the president, you know, has to make an argument. He used military force in this manner. But defining hostilities is something to be argued about. What constitutes hostilities? So particularly with Venezuela today. This is a judicial action. We had to remove Maduro so he could face charges, drug trafficking charges. Last episode, we talked about Robert Lansing assuring President Wilson that using military force may look like war and may have the characteristics of war, but they are not deemed by governments to be actual warfare. And presidents got a lot better throughout the 20th century of stretching these boundaries. President Wilson did not need approval from Congress to invade Veracruz. His argument was the president's allowed to order military force if American citizens or American property is in danger. This is the argument that Robert Lansing gives in that we talked about last episode, Duran v. Holland. I think the the PR coming out of the White House on this Veracruz intervention slash invasion has been kind of all over the place. And it Will be. Even more so. It will continue to be in the coming months. Initially, it's this insult to the American flag. And Wilson says that the US has been singled out and no other foreign nations are being treated with such disrespect. And this is what Wilson presents to Congress as argument for invasion. And this is the resolution that they vote on. Congressmen who vote nay on the resolution will argue, well, what what about the Americans that have been killed and are in harm's way? Had you, President Wilson, come to us with this argument, perhaps we could have gotten behind this resolution. And then it's the Iparanga with a large shipment of arms that fast tracks the invasion. And this was the reason for the occupation of the city, is then what the the Wilson administration will claim.

Bobby 22:56

And I I think This is This is the ship that is carrying a lot of arms uh to be delivered to Puerta. Right. And was it intercepted by the US?

Shannon 23:08

That is a great question. We're gonna find out.

Bobby 23:10

We're gonna find out.

Shannon 23:11

We're gonna find out. I'll give you a little tease after the United States occupies Veracruz, including the port, and they take the customs house. The Yipparanga is in the port, and they won't let the ship unload its cargo. But in the coming months, the story of the Yiparanga will become a little hilarious. Okay. So I think they should have gone with American citizens are in danger. They've been kidnapped, murdered, disappeared, caught in the crosshairs of fighting between rebel and revolutionary factions. I think Wilson learned some things about messaging after this. Wilson is self-righteous, he's stubborn, but he's very smart and shrewd, and I'd even say sensitive. The fact that American soldiers will die as a result of orders he gave greatly weighs on his conscience. And he will make many more mistakes during his first term regarding messaging. But I think he learns from his blunders. Even though Wilson did not have to go to Congress in order to use military force in Veracruz, a resolution is still put forth, and Congress votes on whether or not the president was justified in this use of force. There were 72 yeas and 13 nays in the Senate. There were 337 yeys and 37 nays in the House. And one of the nays in the House comes from a congressman from Pennsylvania named Thomas Butler. And on the House floor, he says, Mr. Speaker, I am one of a few members of this House having had an experience such as we are about to have tonight. Standing with our faces turned towards war. I have heard of the murder of our citizens in Mexico, of the outrage of women and the destruction of American property. It was of these conditions that I expected the president to speak. I expected him to ask for authority to improve these conditions by the use of force. And it was my purpose to cordially and willingly sustain him. These conditions were not offered by him as a reason for war with Mexico. He has made no reference to them. What is the provocation he assigns? It is known as the Tamquico Incident. Let no man be mistaken. This means the shedding of human blood. This means an increase in the work of the coffin makers of the United States, gentlemen who vote for it must accept that responsibility. Let me make the statement here. If the administration discovers that we cannot maintain our American dignity without war, and war has to come, I will stand by the president and by the country. Let the result be what it may. The first being I had an ancestor that signed the Declaration of Independence. Yes. My family came over on the Mayflower.

Bobby 27:55

Right.

Shannon 27:56

And the third would be entirely English ancestry in North America since the 1600s. What do you think? Have I forgotten have I forgotten anything?

Bobby 28:04

No, those are the top three, I would say. Yeah, yeah.

Shannon 28:06

Those are top three, right? That's not my American story.

Bobby 28:11

Nor is it mine.

Shannon 28:12

And yet we are Americans.

Bobby 28:19

We're part of this tapestry. None the less.

Shannon 28:26

Nonetheless. We belong here. We are Americans. A biography of Smedley D. Butler was written by Lowell Thomas in 1933. Lowell Thomas was a prolific writer and broadcaster. He, interestingly enough, writes the biography of Smedley D. Butler in the first person, which I don't know if I've ever seen before.

Bobby 29:06

No, it's that's essentially a like a ghost-written autobiography.

Shannon 29:11

Yeah.

Bobby 29:12

But unauthorized and unsanctioned.

Shannon 29:15

Yes. Yes. Uh so going forward when I say from Smedley D. Butler in Old Gimlet Eye, note that these are not Smedley D. Butler's actual words. They are from a biography written in the first person.

Speaker 5 29:30

Okay.

Shannon 29:30

So Smedley had been stationed around the Caribbean for the past few years, including uh the Panama Canal zone, also, when in January 1914 he is sent to Mexico. From old Gimlet Eye about the transfer from Panama to Mexico, quote. The Marines were ordered to abandon the Isthmus in January 1914 and proceed to Mexico. Mrs. Butler packed up the house and returned with the three children to Pennsylvania. A Marine officer no sooner hangs home sweet home over his fireplace than it's time to take it down again. With our battalion of 400, I boarded the battleship Minnesota bound for Veracruz. I felt downhearted to lose this fine post in Panama, but whys and wherefores are not in the Marine vocabulary. I knew that President Wilson had refused to recognize General Victoriano Huerta, that Mexico was bursting its jacket with internal conflicts, and that the Mexicans had no love for Americans. The intricate ramifications of the situation were not our affair. Marines are given orders and they go. End quote. And those orders, Bobby, for Butler, will be to set up in Veracruz, assess the infrastructure set up between the port of Veracruz and Mexico City, and to draw up plans on what an American intervention into Mexico City would look like. About 40,000 people live in Veracruz. It's a major port and a main supply line to Mexico City. And Veracruz lies on the Faja de Oro, the Golden Lane, the Golden Belt. And this is the area between Tampico and Veracruz where American and British oil wealth are set up. Revolutionary violence has been happening all over the country. And the foreign nationals, all of us Britain, Germany, the US, they all they all want their governments to intervene. For American foreign nationals, the problem has been President Wilson's hesitance to act. He's been watching and waiting, but pressure on the administration has been mounting. And they are competing British and American oil interests in Tampago that we've talked about. And the US is not interested in any multinational alliance to remove where to from power. The Americans want to go this alone. Warships with American Marines had been set up in the Gulf Coast since about 1913. And there are also Marines on call stationed at Guantanamo Bay in Quebec. But the US needs some intel on how easy or difficult it will be to get into Mexico City and how to create a stranglehold on Mexican supply lines and how preemptive military action on the part of the US and the US alone how that should happen. So enter Smedley D. Butler. He is tasked with gathering intel on the infrastructure that exists in and around Mexico City and to come up with an expedition plan. So in the beginning of March 1914, about a month before the incident at Tampico, Smedley D. Butler and Admiral Frank Fletcher, who is in charge of the fleet stationed at Veracruz, they they travel ashore to take a little railroad trip. And Bobby, you're you're going to play the role of Admiral, and I'll be Smedley D. Butler. And we're going to read from Old Gimlet Eye. Perfect. From Old Gimlet Eye. Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher was in command of the sixth or eighth United States warships riding at anchor off Veracruz. He was a great old sea dog. One Sunday morning, I was taking a bath in the Admiral's cabin on the Minnesota. The Admiral's aide pounded on my door. I jumped, dripping out of the tub to let him in. Hurry up and get dressed, he said. The Admiral wants you to go ashore with him. At the station in Veracruz, we climbed into the private car of the superintendent of the railroad. It was attached to the morning train for Mexico City. We rode for about 50 miles until we came to Jalapa. Then we switched back on the afternoon train for Veracruz. The Admiral and I were alone. I was puzzled. He talked about everything under the sun, except the matter obviously on his mind.

Bobby 34:36

By the way, Butler, how should you like to take a little trip to Mexico City?

Shannon 34:42

A fine idea, Admiral.

Bobby 34:43

For various reasons of state, our officers have been requested not to go outside Veracruz, but I'd like an accurate description of conditions in Mexico City. I want to know how many soldiers the Mexicans have up there. The statements have been conflicting. You'll have to go without orders and assume all responsibility. If you're caught, I can't help you. You must tell nobody, not even your wife, where you're going.

Shannon 35:07

In plain language, I was to be a spy.

Bobby 35:23

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Shannon 35:25

Really good. How'd that feel?

Bobby 35:26

Um, it felt I felt like a great old sea dog.

Shannon 35:30

You sounded like a great old sea dog.

Bobby 35:32

Oh, good. Good.

Shannon 35:35

The next day, Butler begins his reconnaissance mission via railroad, and he begins to make some military plans. The superintendent of the railroad, he makes some stops and introduces Smedley D. Butler as a leading local citizen interested in public utilities. And Smedley is shown the electric power plant and the water system.

Bobby 36:02

Public utilities, just a hobby. Find it captivating.

Shannon 36:08

In old Gimludai, he says, they drove me around town, pointing out all the sights boring to a tourist, but vitally important to an invading army. My courteous guides explained the good features of the reservoir built on top of a hill just outside the city. But I was much more interested in two little forts nearby, which overlooked the town. Those forts commanded Puebla. Pretending to chase a butterfly, I dashed into I know.

Bobby 36:45

That's fantastic.

Shannon 36:46

Pretending to chase a butterfly, I dashed into one of the forts and made a hurried inspection before the astonished guards could shove me out. You've used that ruse before, haven't you?

Bobby 37:02

An old James Bond move, actually.

Shannon 37:04

Right, right.

Bobby 37:10

The Academy?

Shannon 37:11

The No, um The Farm? The Farm. They t they teach that move at the farm. Yeah. So Smedley spends ten days in and around Mexico City gathering intel. He interviews Americans living in Mexico City in order to create a list of all the individuals that the Marines will need to get to safety. He befriends someone in Quirkta's secret service and he tells him that he's looking for a dangerous criminal that has enlisted in the Mexican army, and he has a fake tin type, a little picture of this fake criminal that he flashes about to really sell his story. And he's taken to all these garrisons and he says to the Mexican soldiers, Have you seen this man? Has visto a este hombre?

Bobby 38:04

Very good. Very good shape. I mean it wasn't that good. It was it was adequate.

Shannon 38:11

He flashes the tin type, but what he's really doing, of course, is gathering information on the Mexican troops and their forts, and he's sizing up what their munition stores look like. From old Gimlet Eye. Early in the morning and late at night, I roamed around town to observe how much movement there was. The best plan for attacking Mexico City, it seemed to me, was to make a rush on Chaputopec and seize it before anybody was awake. The hill of Chaputopec. Crowned by the president's summer palace and surrounded by a park of beautiful trees and gardens, was the military key to the city. Butler convinces an American diplomat, Nelson O'Shaughnessy, to help him gain access to the palace. Again, from Old Gimodai. O'Shaughnessy told the guards at the gate that my name was Johnson, and I was writing a guidebook. We went all through the palace, a handsome and dignified structure. But I was not interested in the silver bed where the ill-fated Empress Carlotta had slept. The palace was built above an old fort. All I wanted was to examine those old fortifications. With artillery, the top of the hill could be smashed to kingdom come. End quote. So Butler now has some solid intel, and he and the Admiral come up with an invasion plan that is then forwarded on to Washington. The main objective is to get the American citizens out of the city, remove Huerta from power, and then secure American political control in Mexico. The details for phase one are as follows: A thousand Marines will travel from Veracruz to Mexico City, and they'll cut tracks and lines and arrive in Mexico City, 260 miles from Veracruz, in under 24 hours. And Marines will capture military strong points and take over the radio station. And then the U.S. Marines will kidnap Huerta, and an American military government would take over for as long as necessary. The plan was submitted to the White House in March 1914. And all that's needed now is approval from the president. President Wilson, of course, sits on it for weeks, watching, waiting. He can't make a decision. And then the incident at Tampico happens on April 9th. The president sends battleships to Tampico and to Veracruz. But then, while the battleships are en route, the White House gets word of this large shipment of guns and ammunition heading to Veracruz on a German ship, the Yiperonga. And all U.S. naval support, including the ships meant for Tampico, will now be redirected to Veracruz. So U.S. Marines will take the town of Veracruz. And on April 21st, around noon, the fighting begins. From old Gimladeye, quote, I was bursting to be in the thick of it. We dashed inside the breakwater at Veracruz about 11 that night and dropped anchor. The lighthouse was dark. There wasn't a light in the harbor. Every now and then we heard the sharp staccato report of firing along the waterfront. With one company of marines and one of sailors in small boats, I went ashore. At daylight, we marched right through Veracruz. Mexicans in the houses, on the roofs, and in the streets peppered us from all directions. Some fired at us with machine guns. Since the Mexicans were using the houses as fortresses, the Marines rushed from house to house, knocking in doors and searching for snipers. End quote.

Bobby 42:34

Sounds pretty dicey.

Shannon 42:35

Snipers are firing from roofs. Residents of Veracruz are resisting. Soldiers on corners are using buildings for cover. The Marines are stationing machine guns at one end of the street and using the machine gun fire as cover for other Marines to push forward. They have picks and axes that they're using to cut through adobe walls. They're fighting house to house, clearing rooms so they can get to the roofs and take out other snipers on the roofs. It's like Fallujah. Yeah. Or the Tet Offensive. Stalingrad. Berlin.

Bobby 43:12

Yeah, house to house.

Shannon 43:13

This battle in Veracruz is kind of the first time that Marines are battling in an urban setting like this. Smedley Butler continues. Just as two of my men were smashing through one door, they were mysteriously shot in the stomach from below. The house was deserted, but from the angle of the bullets, the Mexicans were obviously under the floor. We poured a volley through the floor and then ripped up the boards. There they were. Two dead Mexicans dangling between the crossbeams. Our fire had caught them. So, how is this? Covered in the press in the United States. A story from the Washington Post on April 22nd, 1914. Reads to me less like journalism and more like propaganda. Headline. U.S. Marines sweep Veracruz with shell and bullet, killing 200 Mexicans. The bloody drama of war with Mexico began here shortly after noon today, and the rifles of Admiral Fletcher's men are remorselessly avenging the four dead and twenty wounded who fell in the opening fuselade of the enemy. Trickery was the sinister forerunner of this tragedy, and the guerrilla tactics, which are the soul of Mexican strategy, were brought into play in this initial conflict. Propaganda.

Bobby 45:36

Right.

Shannon 45:38

Now I'd I'd like for you to read a story from the Chicago Tribune for us, Fabi.

Bobby 45:45

Absolutely. War news was given to a dozen downtown theaters by bulletins from the Tribune last night. The bulletins were read between the acts. Sam Lederer, manager of the Studebaker, said when the outcome of the capture of Veracruz was read, the audience became frenzied. The orchestra struck up the Star-Spangled Banner, and the demonstration was so thrilling that we delayed raising the curtain. In the cafes and restaurants, in the hotel corridors, and out on the streets last evening, the one general subject of conversation was the war with Mexico. The feeling on the subject was intensified by the news of the first blood spilled by the killing of four American Marines and the wounding of twenty more by Mexican troops firing on Admiral Fletcher's men at Veracruz. I've been opposed to war all the time, but now I'm for it, one man said. No more watchful waiting. The shots that killed our boys in Veracruz is the signal for the opening of war. You bet it is, another said. And I'll be one of the first to respond to a call for volunteers. At the corners where the war extras were being sold, little groups were standing around in discussion. As one passed by, one caught fragments of the conversation. That bloody huerta. Wipe Mexico off the map. Any danger of the Japanese? A newsboy was asked his opinion on the war. Fine, he replied. I've been selling an extra dollar's worth of papers since war was declared. In a movie show, a man and his sweetheart were watching some war pictures. The firing of the guns, the display of the American flag, raised a feeling of patriotism in the man's heart. I'm going to enlist tomorrow, he whispered to his sweetheart. Oh, Jack, you hero. The girl's thrilled whisper was heard all over the house.

Shannon 47:44

Yeah, none of that happened.

Bobby 47:46

I doubt it.

Shannon 47:47

I think some creative license was was employed in the writing of that story. Newsboys The Newsboy seems accurate, though. Yeah. There you go. Yeah, that seems accurate. News Newsboys making more money. Newsboys know. You need a good assassination. You need an earthquake or a war. A cricket politician? That ain't news no more. What's that from Bobby?

Bobby 48:10

Newsies. Because you said it yesterday.

Shannon 48:13

I did.

Bobby 48:14

Otherwise I wouldn't have known. I did.

Shannon 48:18

The Americans have managed to take the customs house at Veracruz and then the city of Veracruz in roughly 24 hours. The U.S. military will occupy the city for another six months, though, into November of 1914. Meanwhile, Franz Ferdinand will be assassinated in roughly two months' time, and war in Europe will break out in three months' time. And President Wilson will have to make more consequential foreign policy decisions. But this invasion at Veracruz will have ripple effects that will bleed into the upcoming war in Europe. German operatives are already in place in Mexico. And they will try and use the bad blood between the United States and Mexico to their advantage during the Great War.

Bobby 49:20

Sounds like a real opportunity for them.

Shannon 49:33

And how the invasion of Veracruz is remembered and commemorated in Mexico today. Also, what the heck's going on with this large shipment of arms for Huerta? And what's going on in Tampico? Did the U.S. just leave the Americans in Tampico stranded with no way out? Because all support was sent to Veracruz? The answer is yes. Yes, they did. All this and more on the next episode of that American Century. Sources for today's episode include Gangsters of Capitalism by Jonathan M. Katz, Maverick Marine by Hans Schmidt. Old Gimli by Lowell Thomas. For a list of all sources, please see the show notes for this episode.