“We Ask Very Little For What We Gave”
In 1932, the US unemployment rate stood at 23.6%, with the majority of the jobless population identifying themselves as World War I veterans.1 Drafted into combat, these men successfully completed conscripted assignments overseas, yet returned home to fleeting welcome and glory, eventually finding themselves in a dire state, old jobs either cut or filled and property lost as a cause of back taxes.2 Faithful to the dogma of the idealistic America for which they fought—one that, as President Herbert Hoover in his 1929 inaugural address declares, establishes the United States as nation where “the fruits of accomplishment [are] secure…[and] the government worthy of respect” –the veterans believed that an appeal for aid would be readily heard.3 As the ordeal of the Bonus Army demonstrates, however, nothing would prove further from the truth.
Following WWI, the struggle to pass veteran compensation legislation resulted in over seventy-five different proposals up for consideration on the congressional floor—yet nearly all them proved unviable, requiring large sums of federal money the Treasury simply did not possess. The impoverished veterans wanted a cash-now bonus, but at the estimated cost of $2 billion, President Wilson and Congress refused to grant immediate payout, settling instead the World War Veterans Act in 1924.4 Hoping to appease discontent, this bill did assure soldiers their much-desired bonus—but, it would arrive by 1945, or upon death, whichever came first.
Deemed the “Tombstone Bonus” this policy failed to satisfy the thousands of men out of work and money, instilling within them an even greater discontent. Pains left unalleviated, and worsening in conjunction with the economy following the stock market crash of 1929, veterans kept hoping for an instant federal payment.  With the reintroduction of the Patman Bill in the 1931 Congress, however, relief finally seemed probable. The Patman Bill, written by Texas senator and former WWI vet Wright Patman, called for government-financed bonus payments—rejected in 1929, the prospect of the legislation’s passing galvanized men like Oregonian Walter W. Waters, who believed aid was to arrive at long last; therefore, when President Hoover declared it veto, disgruntlement came to fruition, manifesting itself in the revolutionary march of the Bonus Army.5
The Tale of the Bonus Army
In late May of 1932, the Bonus Expeditionary Forces, or Bonus Army—composed of nearly 20,000 WWI veterans from nearly every corner of the United States—descended upon Washington, D.C. in order to effectively lobby for the cash bonuses their wartime efforts. A reconvened Congress was once again voting on the Patman Bill, and, realizing an innumerable amount of civilian-signed petitions would provide little clout, the soldiers took to the streets.
            Led by “Commander” Walters, on the morning of June 8th, 1932, the determined veterans left their makeshift occupancies at abandoned federal buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue and at tents lining the dirt roads of Anacostia to peacefully march to the Capital steps, urging the House and Senate to finally vote in their favor. 6  On June 15th, the House passed the bill 209-179, but two days later, the Senate instantly stifled any victorious feeling, tabling Patman in a 62-18 decision. 7
            For a greatly burdened President Hoover, this decision signified the fight was over—it was time for the uninvited guests to go home.  Moreover, with conditions in worsening in the summer heat, rations dwindling with increase ranks of men and Communist ideology infiltrating from the fringes, by early July, public opinion, once sympathetic to the heroic military men and their unjust struggles, began to turn.  Decision made, Congress about adjourn, to there was no need for the veterans to remain; but, military men through and through, the Bonus Army remained, not willing to give up the fight, many determined, as Waters put it to “stay until 1945”.8
Brutal Eviction
Yet Hoover, anxious to rid himself this great problem, was determined to drive out the Bonus forces. On July 21st, Hoover ordered Washington, D.C. police commissioner Pelham D. Glassford to evict the troops, under the pretenses that the deteriorating federals buildings in which they squatted were about to be destroyed. 9 Waters and his men resisted, and Glassford, hoping to avoid any riots or bloodshed, worked through means of slow cooperation; but, a week later, with Bonus Army numbers still high, forcible expulsion ensued.
            On July 28th, with the commencement of aggressive removal, chaos and violence quickly replaced order and negotiation. Hesitant to involve army forces, Hoover nonetheless called upon Secretary of War Douglas MacArthur to drive out the relentless veterans. Conscious that brute military tactics would deepen public resentment against him even further, Hoover urged MacArthur to use violence only if necessary— but, according to the Secretary of War, it was already vital. 10  In order to rid Washington D.C. of WWI veterans, their wives and their young children, General MacArthur and his troops utilized six tanks, bayonets and tear gas. 11Moreover, MacArthur advanced to Anacostia—going directly against Hoover’s orders—sending the soldiers’ camp up in flames, destroying all that was left of the Bonus Army.1

1 Timelines of the Great Depression. http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/connections_n2/great_depression.html
2 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic. Walker Publishing Company, New York, NY, 2005.
3 Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O.: for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1989; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/124/. March 20, 2011
4 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
5 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
6 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
7 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
8 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
9 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
10 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
11 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
12 Allen, Thomas B. and Paul Dickson, The Bonus Army: An American Epic.
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