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The Greatest Man You've Never Known

Smedley Butler was born July 30, 1881, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the eldest of three sons. His parents Thomas Stalker Butler and Maud (Darlington) Butler had been descended from Quaker families. His father was a lawyer, a judge, and for 31 years, a Congressman and chair of the House Naval Affairs Committee, during the Harding and Coolidge administrations.

Smedley Butler was one of the most highly decorated soldiers to ever serve in the military. He is still, to this day, one of only a handful of men to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, Twice.  Butler was decorated for his leadership and bravery in such conflicts as, Philippine–American War, where he served in Manila.

In October, 1899 he saw his first combat action when leading 300 Marines to take the town of Noveleta, against Philippino rebels known as "Insurrectos". In the initial moments of the engagement, the top sergeant in Butler's unit was wounded. Butler panicked, but regained his composure and led the Marines in pursuit of the enemy forces. By noon, the Marines had dispersed the rebels and taken the town. In the fighting, one Marine was killed and ten were wounded. Another 50 Marines were incapacitated by the tropical Philippine heat.

Butler also served in the Boxer Rebellion. These were more commonly referred to by historians as The Boxer Uprising, or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement.   Taking place in China as a response to imperialist expansion in the years 1899-1901.

It was the Boxer Rebellion that Butler was shot in the thigh yet still managed to end up saving a mans life (who was actually trying to save his, first) then under "sever fire" got the wounded man to     safety.  For this and other notorious demonstrations of bravery, Butler was awarded the Brevet Medal which is awarded in accordance with Marine Corps Order No. 26 (1921), for distinguished conduct and public service in the presence of the enemy. All of this and he wasn't even nineteen yet.

Butler then served in the The Banana Wars, which were a series of occupations in the Central Americas and the Caribbean.  The goal being to protect American Corporate interests in that region.

In 1903, Butler was ordered to defend the US consulate in Honduras. Since he was in the Caribbean at the time, he used a converted banana boat re-named the panther, and sailed 1500 miles to the west.

Smedley then took some time between campaigns, to get married on June 30, 1905 to  Ethel Conway Peters of Philadelphia in Bay Head, New Jersey. The couple even had time to become parents of three children: a daughter, Ethel Peters Butler, and two sons, Smedley Darlington, Jr. and Thomas Richard.

From then on it seems Butler was having trouble with processing all the death and destruction he had witnessed. In 1908 he suffered a nervous breakdown and took nine (9) months off and worked as a coal miner. Although this may have been the case, he still served in other conflicts. From 1909 to 1912, he served in Nicaragua. In   January 1914 he served off the coast and his of Mexico, near Veracruz.

In the Haitian Battle with the Cacos  he was a brilliant strategist and ended up surrounding the opposition. The battle (often hand to hand combat) is the reason that President Roosevelt conferred the second Medal of Honor he received.

Through out all his meritorious service Smedley Butler began to realize the way his world worked. He began to pay attention to the fashion in which certain men, and institutions, behaved as well as thought.

During World War I, to his disappointment, Butler was not assigned to a combat command on the Western Front. Even though he wrote and requested it.

In October 1918, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general at the age of 37 and placed in command of Camp Ponanezen at Brest, France, a debarkation depot that funneled troops of the American Expeditionary Force to the battlefields.

The Navy Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to Smedley for service in World War 1 for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in France.

However his Military career was winding down, and another equally (maybe more) noble calling was on the horizon. By 1933 Butler was denouncing capitalism and bankers, confessing that as a Marine general "I was a racketeer for capitalism."

Butler began developing his post-Corps career. In May 1931, he took part in a commission established by Oregon Governor Julius L. Meier. The commission laid the foundations for the Oregon State Police. He began lecturing at events and conferences and after his retirement from the Marines in 1931, he took this up full-time. His donated much of his earnings from his lucrative lecture circuits to the Philadelphia unemployment relief. He toured the western United States, making 60 speeches before returning for his daughter's marriage to Marine aviator Lieutenant John Wehle. Her wedding was the only time that he wore his dress blue uniform after he left the Marines.

In perhaps Smedley Butler's bravest act of all, in early 1934, Butler alleged the existence of a political conspiracy of Wall Street interests to overthrow President Roosevelt, a series of allegations that came to be known in the media as the Business Plot. In March 1934, the House of Representatives authorized investigations into his allegations by a special committee headed by John W. McCormack of Massachusetts and Samuel Dickstein of New York. The McCormack-Dickstein committee was a precursor to the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

In November 1934, Butler told the committee that a group of businessmen, claiming to be backed by a private army of 500,000 ex-soldiers and others, intended to establish a fascist dictatorship. Butler had been asked to lead it, he said, by Gerald P. MacGuire, a bond salesman with Grayson M.P Murphy & Co. The New York Times reported that Butler had told friends that General Hugh S. Johnson, a former official with the National Recovery Administration, was to be installed as dictator. Butler said MacGuire had told him the attempted coup was backed by three million dollars, and that the 500,000 men were probably to be assembled in Washington, D.C. the following year. All the parties alleged to be involved, including Johnson, said there was no truth in the story, calling it a "joke and a fantasy".

On August 22, Butler met MacGuire at a hotel, According to Butler's account, it was on this occasion that MacGuire asked Butler to run a new veterans organization (The American Legion) and lead a coup attempt against the President.

On September 13, Paul Comly French, a reporter, who had once been Butler's personal secretary, met MacGuire in his office. In late September, Butler told Van Zandt that co-conspirators would be meeting him at an upcoming Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. On November 20, the Committee began examining evidence. Journalist, Paul Comly French broke the story in the Philadelphia Record and New York Post on November 21. On November 22, The New York Times wrote its first article on the story and described it as a "gigantic hoax."  When the committee's final report was released, the Times said the committee "purported to report that a two-month investigation had convinced it that General Butler's story of a Fascist march on Washington was "alarmingly true" and "It also alleged that definite proof had been found that the much publicized Fascist march on Washington, which was to have been led by Major. Gen. Smedley D. Butler, retired, according to testimony at a hearing, was actually contemplated".  Even at that point Butler was being portrayed in public by those he had accused, as a foolish, conspiracy theorist. Although The New York Times had essentially substantiated Smedley Butler's claims, He was labeled an angry, "nut-job" by his contractors. Those he accused included   Irénée du Pont, and J.P. Morgan,  and various industrialists and political wanta-be's. Butler's testimony was heard before congress on December 29, 1934. Regarding the conversations that he had with  Jerry MacGuire, Butler relayed in his testimony: "They presented to me rather a confused picture, and I could not make up my mind exactly what they wanted me to do or what their objective was, but it had something to do with weakening the influence of the administration with the soldiers." They had tried in vain to make him angry with the President and his staff. Telling him, he had been invited as a distinguished guest of the Chicago Convention. But his name had been taken off the list by Louis Howe, (Secretary to the President.)  This was just a ruse, to get him to capitulate to the plan.  In Smedley Butler's testimony he certainly gave enough detail to warrant a congressional investigation, especially since it concerned the very Presidency of the United States. However, that was not the outcome. It is important to note this statement by Macguire for its revealing nature regarding the financing of The United States. (How we get our money, at this point is by the banking industry (Federal Reserve) lending it to us at instant interest, meaning instant and forever, DEPT!) The statement goes like this: "He has got to do something about it. He has either got to get more money out of us or he has got to change the method of financing the Government, and we are going to see to it that he does not change that method. He will not change it!"

After Smedley Butler's testimony (and the testimony of others) what should have happened did not.

The Congressional committee preliminary report said:

"This committee has had no evidence before it that would in the slightest degree warrant calling before it such men as John W. Davis, Gen.Hugh Johnson, General Harbord, Thomas W. Lamont, Admiral Sims, or Hanford MacNider. (All involved in the plot)

The committee will not take cognizance of names brought into the testimony which constitute mere hearsay.

About the Author

Joseph R. Spencer Writer/Publisher

The Weekly Stash Newsletter/website

http://www.theweeklystash.ning.com

Need some good 70's Rock Bands Like?

I was wondering if you guys could give me some names of some popular 70's rock bands like these bands. and Please don't give me these bands cause I already like them.

Steve Miller Band
Foreigner
Stephenwolf
Rolling Stones
Free
Scorpions
Led Zepplin
Spencer Davis Group
T-Rex
ZZ-Top
Styx
Molly Hatchet
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Golden Earing
AC/DC
Bachman Turner Overdrive
Argent
Aerosmith

If they were not that known but only had a few good hits I'd also like to know. And also give me a title of the song(s) that they are known for. THANKS!

Fleetwood Mac *
Jethro Tull *
Dire Straits
Mike Oldfield
Vinegar Joe
Stone the Crows
Thin Lizzy
Meat Loaf
The Who *
Pink Floyd *
Deep Purple *
Rainbow
Whitesnake
Nazareth *

* = started pre-1970's