Shacks, put up by the Bonus Army on the Anacostia flats, Washington, D.C., burning after the battle with the military, 1932.

The Bonus Army or Bonus March or Bonus Expeditionary Force was an assemblage of about 31,000 World War I veterans, their families, and other affiliated groups who demonstrated in Washington, D.C. during the spring and summer of 1932 seeking immediate payment of a "bonus" granted by the Adjusted Service Certificate Law of 1924 for payment in 1945. They were led by Walter W. Waters, a former Army sergeant, and encouraged by an appearance from retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, one of the most popular military figures of the time. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... Spring is one of the four seasons of temperate zones, the transition from winter into summer. ... Summer is a season of the year that is defined as beginning on June 21st, and ending in September in the Northern Hemisphere. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... The Adjusted Service Certificate Law refers to the law passed in 1924 by the US government that granted World War I veterans bonus certificates that would be redeemable for cash in twenty years. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The UKs Royal Marines in a Rigid Raider assault watercraft A marine corps (from French corps de marine) is a branch of a nations armed forces incorporating Marines, intended to be capable of mounting amphibious assaults using infantry, armour, aircraft, and watercraft. ... Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed The Fighting Quaker and Old Gimlet Eye, was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. ...

Arrival in Washington

The Bonus Army massed at the United States Capitol on June 17 as the U.S. Senate voted on the Patman Bonus Bill, which would have moved forward the date when World War I veterans received a cash bonus. Most of the Bonus Army camped in a Hooverville on the Anacostia Flats, then a swampy, muddy area across the Anacostia River from the federal core of Washington. The protesters had hoped that they could convince Congress to make payments that had been granted to veterans immediately, which would have provided relief for the marchers who were unemployed due to the Depression. The bill had passed the House of Representatives on June 15 but was blocked in the Senate. The West Front of the United States Capitol. ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... Seal of the U.S. Senate Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      Senate composition following 2006 elections The United States Senate is... John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893-March 7, 1976) was a U.S. Congressman from Texas and chair of the House Banking Committee. ... Hooverville near Portland, Oregon Hooverville is a term describing a series of villages that appeared during the Great Depression in the United States from 1929 through the 1930s and 1940s. ... The Anacostia River is a river that flows about 8. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political groups (as of November 7, 2006 elections) Democratic Party Republican...

After the defeat of the bill, Congress appropriated funds to pay for the marchers' return home, which some marchers accepted. On July 28, Washington police attempted to remove some remaining Bonus Army protesters from a federal construction site. After police fatally shot two veterans, the protesters assaulted the police with blunt weapons, wounding several of them. After the police retreated, the District of Columbia commissioners informed President Herbert Hoover that they could no longer maintain the peace, whereupon Hoover ordered federal troops to remove the marchers from the general area. July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... Herbert Clark Hoover, (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the 31st President of the United States (1929–1933), was a world-famous mining engineer and humanitarian administrator. ...

Intervention of the military

The marchers were cleared and their camps were destroyed by the 12th Infantry Regiment from Fort Howard, Maryland, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment under the command of MAJ. George S. Patton from Fort Myer, Virginia, under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur. The Posse Comitatus Act, prohibiting the U.S. military from being used for general law enforcement purposes in most instances, did not apply to Washington, D.C. because it is one of several pieces of federal property under the direct governance of the U.S. Congress (United States Constitution, Article I. Section 8). Dwight D. Eisenhower, as a member of MacArthur's staff, had strong reservations about the operation. Troops carrying rifles with unsheathed bayonets and tear gas were sent into the Bonus Army's camps. President Hoover did not want the army to march across the Anacostia River into the protesters' largest encampment, but Douglas MacArthur felt this was a communist attempt to overthrow the government and thus exceeded his authority. Hundreds of veterans were injured, several were killed, including William Hushka and Eric Carlson, a wife of a veteran miscarried, and other casualties were inflicted. The visual image of U.S. armed soldiers confronting poor veterans of the recent Great War set the stage for Veteran relief and eventually the Veterans Administration. The 12th Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army. ... The 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army currently stationed at Fort Hood, Texas in the city of Killeen, Texas. ... George Smith Patton Jr. ... Orville Wright flying at Fort Myer, September 17, 1908. ... Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964), was an American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. ... The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law () passed in 1878 after the end of Reconstruction. ... Nickname: Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Country United States Federal District District of Columbia Government  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Constitution of the United States of America Page one of the original copy of the Constitution. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower, born David Dwight Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 - March 28, 1969) was an American soldier and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953-1961). ... A riot control agent is a type of lachrymatory agent (or lacrimatory agent). ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... William Hushka (1895 - 1932) was an immigrant to the United States from Lithuania. ... The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for administering programs of veterans benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. ...

By the end of the rout: A rout is a disorderly withdrawal made by a military force following defeat , a collapse of discipline, or poor morale. ...

• Two veterans were shot and killed.
• An 11 week old baby was in critical condition resulting from shock from gas exposure.
• Two infants died from gas asphyxiation.
• An 11 year old boy was partially blinded by tear gas.
• One bystander was shot in the shoulder.
• One veteran's ear was severed by a Cavalry saber.
• One veteran was stabbed in the hip with a bayonet.
• At least twelve police were injured by the veterans.
• Over 1,000 men, women, and children were exposed to the tear gas, including police, reporters, residents of Washington D.C., and ambulance drivers.

The army burned down the Bonus Army's tents and shacks, although some reports claim that to spite the government, which had provided much of the shelter in the camp, some veterans torched their own camp dwellings before the troops could set upon the camp. Reports of U.S. soldiers marching against their peers did not help Hoover's re-election efforts; neither did his open opposition to the Bonus Bill due to financial concerns. After the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, some of the Bonus Army regrouped in Washington to restate its claims to the new President. FDR redirects here. ...

Aftermath

Franklin D. Roosevelt did not want to pay the bonus early, either, but handled the veterans with more skill when they marched on Washington again the next year. He sent his wife Eleanor to chat with the vets and pour coffee for them, and she persuaded many of them to sign up for jobs making a roadway to the Florida Keys, which was to become the Overseas Highway, the southernmost portion of U.S. Route 1. On September 2, the disastrous Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 killed 259 veterans working on the Highway. After seeing more newsreels of veterans giving their lives for a government that had taken them for granted, public sentiment built up so much that Congress could no longer afford to ignore it in an election year (1936). Roosevelt's veto was overridden, making the bonus a reality. FDR redirects here. ... Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was an American political leader who used her stature as First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 to promote her husbands (Franklin D. Roosevelts) New Deal, as well as civil rights. ... Palm trees in Islamorada The Florida Keys is an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. ... The Matecumbe Keys toll booth on June 21, 1938. ... This U.S. Highway article needs to be cleaned up to conform to both a higher standard of article quality and accepted design standards outlined in the WikiProject U.S. Highways. ... Lowest pressure 892 mbar (hPa)[1] Damages $6 million+ (1935 dollars) $82 million+ (2005 dollars) Fatalities 408 - 600 direct Areas affected Bahamas, Florida Keys, Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina Part of the 1935 Atlantic hurricane season The Labor Day Hurricane was a very compact, intense hurricane that... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Perhaps the Bonus Army's greatest accomplishment was the piece of legislation known as the G. I. Bill of Rights. Passed in 1944, it immensely helped veterans from the Second World War to secure needed assistance from the federal government to help them fit back into civilian life, something the World War I veterans of the Bonus Army had received very little of. The Bonus Army's activities can also be seen as a template for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, and popular political demonstrations and activism that took place in the U.S. later in the 20th century. Stamp commemorating the G.I. Bill or Servicemens Readjustment Act The G. I. Bill of Rights or Servicemens Readjustment Act of 1944 provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs or G. I.s) as well as one-year... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Demonstrator at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. ...

See also

• General Smedley Butler (Spoke in favor of the Bonus Army)
• Adjusted Service Certificate Law
• List of protest marches on Washington, D.C.
• On-to-Ottawa Trek
• Whiskey Rebellion

Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed The Fighting Quaker and Old Gimlet Eye, was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. ... The Adjusted Service Certificate Law refers to the law passed in 1924 by the US government that granted World War I veterans bonus certificates that would be redeemable for cash in twenty years. ... The following is a list of protest marches on Washington, D.C.. // April 30, 1894 - Coxeys Army. ... Strikers from unemployment relief camps climbing on boxcars in Kamloops, British Columbia The On-to-Ottawa Trek was a protest movement in Canada during the Great Depression by the poor and unemployed. ... The Whiskey Rebellion, lesser known as the Whiskey Insurrection, was a popular uprising that had its beginnings in 1791 and culminated in an insurrection in 1794 in the locality of Washington, Pennsylvania, in the Monongahela Valley. ...

References

• Archer, Jules (1963). Front-Line General: Douglas MacArthur. Julian Messner, Inc.. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 63-16791. 
• Archer, Jules (1973). The Plot to Seize the White House. Hawthorn Books, Inc.. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 76-39261. 
• Burner, David (1979). Herbert Hoover: A Public Life. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-46134-7. 
• James, D. Clayton (1970). The Years of MacArthur, Volume I, 1880-1941. Houghton Mifflin Company. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 76-108685. 
• Ross, John (1996). Unintended Consequences. Accurate Press. ISBN 1-888118-04-0. 
• Smith, Richard Norton (1984). An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-46034-X. 

Further reading

• Collins, Dennis (2006). Nora's Army, Washington Writers' Publishing House. ISBN 0-931846-83-8.
• Dickson, Paul and Thomas B. Allen (2004). The Bonus Army: An American Epic, Walker and Company. ISBN 0-8027-1440-4.

External links

• NPR story about the Bonus Army, ipoi archival newsreels
• The Bonus Army from eyewitnesstohistory.com
• Bonus March 2, a call for a "new Bonus Army"