Joseph Sabino Mistick: Look to Smedley Butler, American patriot

Smedley Butler is not a name most Americans recognize. But if you were in the United States Marine Corps, you heard his name plenty. Maj. Gen. Butler, sometimes called “The Fighting Quaker,” joined the Marines at age 17 to fight in the Spanish- American War.

Butler fought in wars around the globe, keeping American interests safe by putting down rebellions in China, the Philippine and Central and South America. Along the way, he earned a chest full of medals and was awarded the Medal of Honor twice.

On Parris Island, where new Marines are trained, Butler is remembered in a cadence that recruits chant during endurance runs. One of those cadences — the “Eagle, Globe and Anchor” — celebrates Butler, Dan Daly and Chesty Puller, legendary Marines all. It is a reminder of their battlefield courage.

Butler also showed courage in civic matters, which is another reason why America should remember and honor him, especially on the anniversary of the insurrectionists’ Jan. 6 attack on our Capitol. He spoke out against fascism at every turn and publicly called out new dictators like Benito Mussolini.

Butler was a truth teller. After he left the service in 1931, he wrote a small book called “War is a Racket,” in which he claimed that the lost lives of American warriors are the price the nation pays for the millions made by war profiteers. And he said that during most of his 33 years at war he was “a gangster for capitalism,” making small countries safe for American business.

Butler’s penchant for truth made headlines again when he testified before a congressional committee that he had been recruited by a cabal of businessmen to lead a coup against President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They promised Butler an army of 500,000 disgruntled veterans to march on Washington, force FDR into a ceremonial role and replace him with a regent to run the government.

Butler played along with them until they gave him the ammunition he needed to expose their plans. Then, as now, there were attempts by the conspirators and their supporters to minimize the real nature of the treasonous plot. But Butler’s truth won out.

The final congressional committee report said, “There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.” Even the New York Times reversed its initial doubts and reported in the end that Butler was to be believed.

Butler never flinched, saying, “My interest is, my one hobby is, maintaining a democracy. If you get these 500,000 soldiers advocating anything smelling of fascism, I am going to get 500,000 more and lick the hell out of you, and we will have a real war right at home.”

Fortunately, there are still honorable soldiers and elected officials warning us of those who are hell-bent on destroying our constitutional democracy, and they are chasing down and punishing the coup plotters of a year ago. The Smedley Butlers of today deserve and need the support of all patriotic Americans to see this through for the sake of the Republic.