The Bonus Army was the name applied a group over 17,000 U.S WW1veterans who marched on Washington, D.C. during the summer of 1932 demanding immediate cash payment of the service bonuses promised to them by Congress eight years earlier.
WHY THE BONUS ARMY MARCHED
Most of the veterans marched on the Capitol in 1932 to protest against the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 promised to them, but not until 1945 — a full 27 years after the end of the war they had fought in. Something like the OROP and downgrading of the military protocol being junked by successive Indian Govts. False promises.
The World War Adjusted Compensation Act was passed by Congress as sort of a 20-year insurance policy redeemable “Adjusted Service Certificate” worth a certain amount not redeemable until their individual birthdays in 1945.
On May 15, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge had, veetoed the bill providing for the bonuses stating, “Patriotism, bought and paid for, is not patriotism.” Congress, however, overrode his veto a few days later.
While the veterans might have been happy to wait for their bonuses and so called promises, they had immediate needs for the money and for feeding themselves and their families.
THE BONUS ARMY VETERANS OCCUPY D.C.
The Bonus March actually began in May 1932 as some 15,000 veterans assembled in makeshift camps scattered around Washington, D.C.
where they planned to demand and wait for the immediate payment of their bonuses peacefully like Indian veteran soldiers at Jantar Mantar
The largest of the veterans’ camp was at Hooverville and housed about 10,000 veterans and their families in ramshackle shelters built from old lumber, packing boxes, and scrapped tin from a nearby junk pile. Including the veterans, their families, and other supporters, the crowd of protesters eventually grew to nearly 45,000 people.
Veterans maintained order in the camps, built military-style sanitation facilities, and held orderly daily protest parades.
THE D.C. POLICE ATTACK THE VETERANS
On June 15, 1932, the US House of Representatives passed the Wright Patman Bonus Bill to move up the payment date of the veterans’ bonuses. However, the Senate defeated the bill. The veterans protested peacefully. On June 17 the D.C. police reacted violently, resulting in the deaths of two veterans and two police officers.
THE U.S. ARMY ATTACKS THE VETERANS
On the morning of July 28, 1932, President Hoover, in his capacity as commander in chief of the military, ordered his Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley to clear the Bonus Army camps and disperse the protesters. At 4:45 p.m., U.S. Army infantry and cavalry regiments supported by six M1917 light tanks assembled on Pennsylvania Avenue to carry out President Hoover’s orders. This was the biggest mistake of his life.
With sabers, fixed bayonets, tear gas, and a mounted machine gun, the infantry and the cavalry charged the veterans, forcibly evicting them and their families from the smaller camps on the Capitol Building side of the Anacostia River. When the veterans retreated back across the river to the Hooverville camp, President Hoover ordered the troops to stand down until the next day.
By the end, 55 veterans had been injured and 135 arrested.
THE AFTERMATH OF THE BONUS ARMY PROTEST
In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated Hoover by a landslide vote. Hoover’s militaristic treatment of the Bonus Army veterans had contributed to his defeat, Roosevelt had also opposed the veterans’ demands during the 1932 campaign. However, when the veterans held a similar protest in May 1933, he provided them with meals and a secure campsite.
On January 22, 1936, both houses of Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act in 1936, appropriating $2 billion for the immediate payment of all World War I veterans’ bonuses.
Ultimately, the events of the Bonus Army veterans’ march on Washington contributed to the enactment in 1944 of the GI Bill, which has since assisted thousands of veterans make the often difficult transition to civilian life and in some small way pay back the debt owed to those who risk their lives for their country.