The history matters - THE BONUS ARMY. On July 28, 1932, police and federal troops attacked and burned to the ground an encampment of WW One veterans and their families - - the so-called Bonus Army - - in Washington, DC. John diJoseph, a wire service photographer in Washington described the camps on fire. The sky was red. You could see the blaze all over Washington. Beginning in mid-May 1932 World War One veterans, many of them unemployed, demanded Bonus Money promised to them by Congress for their service. As World War I drew to a close in 1918, millions of American veterans returned home to the promise of a cash bonus — compensation for their overseas service; but the money would not be paid out until 1945. Then, the Great Depression struck. Veterans, desperate for relief, wanted immediate payment. So in 1932, a group of them in Portland, Ore., led by a man named Walter Waters, decided to go to Washington to lobby for early payment of their promised bonus. As they moved eastward, their idea caught on. Radio stations and newspapers began to pick up the story. Veterans from all over the country headed for the capital. The first Bonus Marchers arrived in Washington, D.C., on May 25, demanding payment of their bonuses. Within weeks, there were 25,000 veterans, some with their families, camped in vacant lots, empty buildings and in an Army-style encampment along the Anacostia River. At one end of camp, there was a dump where veterans scavenged materials to build their houses: wrecked cars, chicken cages and pieces of wood. On June 15, the House of Representatives passed a bill to pay out the bonus. The Bonus marchers celebrated. But then the Senate turned it down, adjourned and snuck out of DC under the cover of darkness. Officials in Washington expected that the Bonus Marchers would leave; they didnt. And there was no indication they were ever going to leave. On July 28, officials sent in the Washington police to evict the marchers. The action was peaceful until someone threw a brick, the police reacted with force, and two bonus marchers were shot. The situation quickly spiraled out of control two bonus marchers were shot. The Hoover administration sent in the Army, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Flame throwers and small tanks were used to force the veterans from their encampments. The images of that night were viewed all over the country. In every little town, people watched the newsreels, saw the tanks in the street, the tear gas, and MacArthur driving out the troops that had won the First World War. President Hoover is alleged to have remarked that the images would cost him the November presidential election. Four years later, the WWI vets received their bonuses. And in 1944, Congress passed the GI Bill to help military veterans from World War II transition to civilian life, and to acknowledge the debt owed to those who risk their lives for their country.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 11:03:51 +0000
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