1Isaac Woodard
In 1946, a black World War 2 veteran named Isaac Woodard was taking a bus home in uniform and asked the driver to stop for a bathroom break. The driver called the police, and the local chief of police arrested the man, beat him, and gouged out his eyes with a nightstick. The officer was acquitted by an all-white jury.
2Bonus Army
In 1932, a group of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, DC to demand early payment of their service bonuses. President Hoover called in the Army to disperse the protestors. With a force of 500 infantrymen, 500 cavalry, and 6 tanks, the Army succeeded, and two veterans were killed.
3Six Flags Accident
At Six Flags Darien Lake in 2011, a double amputee war veteran died after being ejected from a rollercoaster. Investigators ruled it as the ride attendant’s fault for not adhering to the rules requiring riders to have both legs.
4James Hard
James Hard was a US Civil War veteran who died at 111 years old, living long enough to see both World War 1 and World War 2. He saw the world going from using rows of musket fire to nuclear arms within his lifetime.
5Marcelino Serna
The most decorated American World War 1 veteran from Texas was an undocumented Mexican immigrant named Marcelino Serna. He was also the first Hispanic to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
6John Johnson
John “Liver Eatin’” Johnson was a Mexican-American War veteran turned mountain man, who in 1847 started a personal vendetta against the Crow Nation after they killed his Flathead wife. He is said to have killed and scalped more than 300 Crows and then ate their livers as a sign of disrespect.
7Kevin Briggs
Kevin Briggs is a San Francisco Highway Patrol Officer and a veteran of US Army, who has talked approximately 200 people out of suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge since 1994.
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8GI Bill Denied
After returning from World War 2 over 1 million Black Americans were denied the benefits of the GI bill for free education and low rate home loans.
9Michael A. Smith
A Vietnam War veteran named Michael A. Smith waited in line at (American actress) Jane Fonda book signing just to spit tobacco juice in her face, calling her a traitor to the US for her actions in the 1970s.
10Paul Franklin
A Canadian military veteran amputee named Paul Franklin had to submit annual paperwork to prove his legs were still missing in order to continue his disability benefits.
