I thought that the WWI vets had been promised a bonus by fedgov.
I had to read up on it. Their bonus was a bond, with compound interest (!!) to be paid in 1945. They wanted redemption in 1932. That bond was a pretty sweet deal, never to be repeated, but one can’t live on promises.
Congress eventually gave them their early redemptions for the ‘it’s my money and I want it NOW’ crowd which lost out on over a decade of compound interest. But yeah, they were asking for something extraordinary when most everyone was broke. Quite different situation here. The WWII vets PAID for the memorial in addition to their service!