Bonus Army

World War I was one of the most traumatic experiences that any generation had ever gone through. Soldiers encountered new technological weapons that slaughtered on a previously unimaginable scale, meanwhile many others succumbed to the filth and disease rampant in the trenches. The scarred generation was now experiencing a new trauma with the desperation of the Great Depression. The men were not ideologically motivated but simply looking for any way out of the poverty they found themselves in. How could the nation turn its back on those who had put their lives on the line for it?

Fig.1 - The Bonus Army

Bonus Army Definition

The Bonus Army were a group of First World War veterans who demonstrated in Washington DC in 1932. Their goal was to receive immediate payment on a bonus they were owed for their WWI service. The economic pressures of the Great Depression were a major factor in their desperation to recieve the promised funds.

WWI Bonus

In 1924, Congress passed the World War Adjusted Compensation Act to provide a bonus for those who had served in WWI. Despite its public popularity, a WWI bonus had been vetoed by both President Harding and President Coolidge before Congress eventually overrode Coolidge's veto. Approving the bonus and paying for the bonus proved to be two entirely different matters. When it came time to make the budget in 1924, a deal was struck to push the payment of the bonus off to 1945. Congress, working in the midst of the peace and prosperity of the Roaring 20s, couldn't have foreseen that the Great Depression and then WWII were going to only make the payments harder down the line.

Bonus Army: Great Depression

The bonus provided for $1 per day of stateside service, capped at $500, and $1.25 per day of overseas service, capped at $625. While the veterans, or their heirs if they passed before payment, would not see the money until 1945, they were able to borrow against it. The issue with this was that by 1932 when the veterans really needed the money, the Great Depression had significantly reduced several banks' ability to provide credit and give the veterans the loans.

Fig.2 - Bonus Army Camp

Bonus Army March

As the Great Depression dragged on, many veterans became unemployed and destitute. Looking for relief, the men turned to the hope of their promised bonus. They banded together to form the Bonus Expeditionary Forces, later referred to as the Bonus Army, which marched to Washington and demanded immediate payment. Shantytowns known as Hoovervilles had sprung up across the country and the Bonus Army set up their own across the city of Washington DC.

Encampments of the Bonus Army

Whatever scraps of wood, tin, and nails that could be found were used to erect hasty dwellings in the nation's capital. Whole families dwelled in the shantytowns which visualized the plight of common people during the Great Depression. Estimates range from 20,000 to 40,000 people inhabiting the camps.

When the Bonus Army arrived, other groups were already on the scene, demanding relief from the hardships of the Great Depression. Communists marched to the capitol in December of 1931 and another 12,000 unemployed asking for Congressional help soon followed. In a mirror of their WWI experience, the veterans had marched into a situation that was already hostile. Despite losing the issue, the veterans refused to leave Washington, DC.

Walter W Waters experienced something many war veterans have gone through: difficulty adjusting to civilian after returning from war. He had been stationed in France during WWI and after his discharge in 1919, he couldn't seem to set down roots. In his travels he encountered other veterans of the war experiencing the same troubles with finding work and organized them into the Bonus Expeditionary Force. After the events were over, he wrote a book to explain the events in 1933. Despite how the Bonus Army was treated by the US Army, he would once again volunteer for military service and join the Navy to fight in WWII.

Official Reaction to the Bonus Army

Herbert Hoover and other Republicans had been voted in to continue the conservative policies of President Coolidge. Despite the popularity of aiding the veterans, they maintained Coolidge's anti-bonus stance. Texas Democrat and WWI veteran, Wright Patman, managed to introduce and pass an immediate bonus payment bill in the House of Representatives. The Senate, however, voted down the bill which Hoover would not have signed anyway.

An Early Red Scare

At the time, Communism was controversial, but the extreme schism of the Cold War had not yet developed. Communism was growing in the United States, with party membership doubling between the start of the Great Depression and when the Bonus Army marched. General Douglas MacArthur and President Hoover believed that Communists were behind the Bonus Army, attempting to undermine the government. MacArthur's intelligence operatives told him that less than 10% of the leadership were Communists, and even a smaller percentage of the marchers as a whole. Despite the evidence, MacArthur continued to suggest the march was part of a Communist conspiracy.

Fig.3 - Bonus Army Clashing with Police

Forcing out the Bonus Army

Between their refusal to leave Washington, DC and the government's refusal to give them what they wanted; the Bonus Army incident had to eventually come to a head. The end was tragic. Those who had sacrificed for their country found themselves and their families brutalized. By the end, several were dead, and many were hospitalized.

July 28 Riot

On July 28, 1932, Attorney General William Mitchell gave the order for DC police to remove protestors. Their focus was on about 50 people who had occupied Pennsylvania Avenue buildings. The removal did not go peacefully. In the ensuing riot, police killed two of the protestors.

Army vs Veterans

President Hoover instructed General Douglas MacArthur to restore order and push protestors back across the Anacostia River. Soldiers, tanks, and tear gas forced the Bonus Army across the bridge. MacArthur did not stop there though. Against the orders of President Hoover and the advice of his aide, Dwight Eisenhower, MacArthur pursued the Bonus Army across the bridge and burned the camp on the far side of the river.

Fig.4 - Bonus Army Camp Burns

Bonus Army Significance

Although MacArthur had achieved a military victory against the unarmed and destitute men, women, and children who had made up the protests, the action was still seen as a leadership failure. Even some of the most Republican-leaning newspapers editorialized their horror at the events. The soldiers who cleared the camps later expressed shame and grief over their involvement.

Bonus Army Incident: The Eleven-Year Tragedy