WEBVTT 00:00:02.536 --> 00:00:05.376 In the summer of 1932, at the height of 00:00:05.376 --> 00:00:07.970 the Great Depression, an impoverished 00:00:07.970 --> 00:00:10.724 army of 45,000 World War One veterans 00:00:10.724 --> 00:00:15.755 marched on Washington, DC. 00:00:15.755 --> 00:00:17.726 They believed that if they came to 00:00:17.726 --> 00:00:19.678 Congress, that Congress would finally 00:00:19.678 --> 00:00:22.871 authorize immediate payment of bonds 00:00:22.871 --> 00:00:25.457 that they had been promised for the 00:00:25.457 --> 00:00:27.582 losses that they suffered during World 00:00:27.582 --> 00:00:30.919 War One. But Congress refused to pay the 00:00:30.919 --> 00:00:33.525 bonus, and the army brutally drove the 00:00:33.525 --> 00:00:37.386 veterans away. "It's war. 00:00:37.386 --> 00:00:39.507 The greatest concentration of fighting 00:00:39.507 --> 00:00:43.454 troops in Washington since 1865." This is 00:00:43.454 --> 00:00:46.114 the saga of the Bonus Army in a March 00:00:46.114 --> 00:00:48.231 that changed the nation. 00:00:48.962 --> 00:00:53.749 (Singing "Remembery my forgotten man. You 00:00:53.749 --> 00:00:58.320 put a rock right in his hand....") 00:01:07.815 --> 00:01:10.045 Major funding for this program was 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.561 provided by the Disabled American 00:01:12.561 --> 00:01:14.730 Veterans' National Service Foundation. 00:01:14.730 --> 00:01:16.805 Since World War One, DAV has helped 00:01:16.805 --> 00:01:18.621 veterans recover from the wounds and 00:01:18.621 --> 00:01:22.302 scars of war. DAV - building better lives 00:01:22.302 --> 00:01:24.417 for America's disabled veterans and 00:01:24.417 --> 00:01:27.413 their families. Additional production 00:01:27.413 --> 00:01:29.184 support provided by 00:01:29.184 --> 00:01:31.573 Tawani Foundation - promoting the ideal of 00:01:31.573 --> 00:01:33.782 the citizen soldier at the Pritzker 00:01:33.782 --> 00:01:37.703 Military Library, Chicago Illinois; and by 00:01:37.703 --> 00:01:40.724 the Humanities Council of Washington, DC. 00:01:41.610 --> 00:01:43.949 [Music] 00:01:44.422 --> 00:01:46.872 America was not prepared when it entered 00:01:46.872 --> 00:01:50.359 World War One in 1917. Fighting the 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:52.708 Germans required young American men by 00:01:52.708 --> 00:01:55.112 the millions, and the only way to get 00:01:55.112 --> 00:01:58.545 them was through conscription. The 00:01:58.545 --> 00:02:00.410 American Army, for the first time in its 00:02:00.410 --> 00:02:02.630 history, will be composed of a majority 00:02:02.630 --> 00:02:05.084 of conscripted troops. And when the draft 00:02:05.084 --> 00:02:07.211 is explained to the American people, it's 00:02:07.211 --> 00:02:10.611 called Selective Service. Some men were 00:02:10.611 --> 00:02:13.289 selected to fight, others to work in 00:02:13.289 --> 00:02:17.654 needed defense industries, or as farmers. 00:02:17.654 --> 00:02:20.672 So the different conception of military 00:02:20.672 --> 00:02:22.633 service as work, as opposed to just 00:02:22.633 --> 00:02:25.611 simply civic duty. The first American 00:02:25.611 --> 00:02:29.984 troops arrived in France in June of 1917. 00:02:30.836 --> 00:02:34.309 In just 18 months, nearly 100,000 lost 00:02:34.309 --> 00:02:38.854 their lives. 200,000 more were wounded or 00:02:38.854 --> 00:02:45.278 gassed. Also over there were hundreds of 00:02:45.278 --> 00:02:47.364 thousands of African-American soldiers. 00:02:49.130 --> 00:02:52.314 Barred from combat with American units, 00:02:52.314 --> 00:02:54.987 many fought courageously under the 00:02:54.987 --> 00:02:57.809 French flag. For the first time, many of 00:02:57.809 --> 00:02:59.555 these people experienced what it was 00:02:59.555 --> 00:03:00.973 like to be treated 00:03:00.973 --> 00:03:04.239 as fully human beings by white people. 00:03:04.859 --> 00:03:07.125 When the armistice was signed on 00:03:07.125 --> 00:03:10.794 November 11, 1918, most of the Americans 00:03:10.794 --> 00:03:14.410 that had served would never be the same. 00:03:16.405 --> 00:03:20.361 As the first waves of troops returned 00:03:20.361 --> 00:03:22.858 from Europe, the nation turned out to 00:03:22.858 --> 00:03:26.779 honor them with parades. The veterans 00:03:26.779 --> 00:03:28.687 quickly realized the high price they had 00:03:28.687 --> 00:03:32.044 paid. Let's say a guy didn't go to war - 00:03:32.044 --> 00:03:34.872 stayed home working at an arms factory. 00:03:34.872 --> 00:03:37.212 He would probably get maybe 10 times as 00:03:37.212 --> 00:03:39.334 much as a soldier would. A soldier in 00:03:39.334 --> 00:03:41.113 combat was getting about a buck, buck and 00:03:41.113 --> 00:03:43.924 a quarter a day. Soon after the war, 00:03:43.924 --> 00:03:45.624 veterans began to argue that soldiers 00:03:45.624 --> 00:03:48.800 should be compensated for the wages they 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.451 lost while serving their country. They 00:03:51.451 --> 00:03:53.334 very carefully used the terms "adjusted 00:03:53.334 --> 00:03:56.864 compensation" to be clear that what they 00:03:56.864 --> 00:03:59.663 are asking for is not a bonus; they are 00:03:59.663 --> 00:04:02.228 asking for back wages that are due to 00:04:02.228 --> 00:04:04.987 them. It was the detractors who called 00:04:04.987 --> 00:04:06.311 it a bonus. 00:04:06.311 --> 00:04:09.403 Finally, in 1924, Congress granted World 00:04:09.403 --> 00:04:12.147 War One veterans adjusted universal 00:04:12.147 --> 00:04:16.589 compensation. A law had granted them the 00:04:16.589 --> 00:04:19.695 bones equivalent to a dollar to a dollar 00:04:19.695 --> 00:04:21.418 and a quarter a day for every day they 00:04:21.418 --> 00:04:23.681 served, which in many cases would be six, 00:04:23.681 --> 00:04:26.606 eight hundred, or a thousand dollars. But 00:04:26.606 --> 00:04:29.212 there was a catch. They don't get a nickel 00:04:29.212 --> 00:04:32.946 of the money until 1945. Unless they die. 00:04:32.946 --> 00:04:35.061 That's why they called it the "tombstone 00:04:35.061 --> 00:04:38.288 bonus." In 1928, Herbert Clark Hoover, a 00:04:38.288 --> 00:04:39.958 self-made millionaire, was elected 00:04:39.958 --> 00:04:44.024 president. In his inaugural address, 00:04:44.024 --> 00:04:45.976 Hoover proclaimed that the future of the 00:04:45.976 --> 00:04:47.909 country was bright with hope. 00:04:50.512 --> 00:04:53.309 Just seven months later, the stock market 00:04:53.309 --> 00:04:55.965 collapsed, and the country descended into 00:04:55.965 --> 00:04:57.316 the Great Depression. 00:04:58.132 --> 00:05:01.860 [Music] 00:05:01.860 --> 00:05:04.750 In America in 1932, hunger and 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:08.792 desperation stalked the land. 25% of 00:05:08.792 --> 00:05:11.348 workers were unemployed, and many were 00:05:11.348 --> 00:05:15.576 veterans. One of them was Walter W. Waters, 00:05:15.576 --> 00:05:19.304 down on his luck in Portland, Oregon. He 00:05:19.304 --> 00:05:21.656 had been a sergeant in the war, and 00:05:21.656 --> 00:05:23.626 that's an indication that you were a 00:05:23.626 --> 00:05:25.590 pretty good soldier. And there were a lot 00:05:25.590 --> 00:05:27.614 of veterans sitting around trying to 00:05:27.614 --> 00:05:30.592 find what to do next. Then came a ray of 00:05:30.592 --> 00:05:31.665 hope. 00:05:32.183 --> 00:05:34.928 A bill calling for an immediate cash 00:05:34.928 --> 00:05:36.610 payment of the veterans' bonus was 00:05:36.610 --> 00:05:39.948 introduced in Congress. Waters became 00:05:39.948 --> 00:05:42.561 obsessed with it. "During this time, I was 00:05:42.561 --> 00:05:44.268 anxiously watching reports in the 00:05:44.268 --> 00:05:46.811 newspapers of the progress of bonus 00:05:46.811 --> 00:05:50.013 legislation. And I noticed that the highly 00:05:50.013 --> 00:05:52.346 organized lobbies in Washington were 00:05:52.346 --> 00:05:56.025 producing results, regardless of the 00:05:56.025 --> 00:05:59.731 justice or injustice of the demand." At a 00:05:59.731 --> 00:06:01.758 meeting of jobless veterans, Waters stood 00:06:01.758 --> 00:06:05.047 up and urged them to march on Washington. 00:06:05.817 --> 00:06:08.091 And when that happened, it kind of 00:06:08.091 --> 00:06:10.929 clicked for these guys. Eventually, there 00:06:10.929 --> 00:06:12.998 were about 300 of them. And they go down 00:06:12.998 --> 00:06:16.433 to the railroad yard to hop freight, and 00:06:16.433 --> 00:06:19.698 they go all the way across the country to 00:06:19.698 --> 00:06:22.284 Washington. (Song "Once I built a 00:06:22.284 --> 00:06:28.358 railroad...) They called themselves the 00:06:28.358 --> 00:06:32.634 Bonus Expeditionary Force, or BEF - a 00:06:32.634 --> 00:06:35.850 play on the American Expeditionary Force, 00:06:35.850 --> 00:06:38.091 the collective name for the troops sent 00:06:38.091 --> 00:06:42.338 to France. But soon they were simply 00:06:42.338 --> 00:06:46.032 known as the Bonus Army. They carried 00:06:46.032 --> 00:06:48.866 knapsacks or duffle bags or bed rolls 00:06:48.866 --> 00:06:52.839 with tin cups dangling. They had $30 among 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:57.484 them. Meanwhile, word of the BEF was 00:06:57.484 --> 00:07:01.062 spreading. Even as Waters and his men 00:07:01.062 --> 00:07:03.863 were heading towards the Capitol, 25 vets 00:07:03.863 --> 00:07:05.739 from Tennessee were circling the White 00:07:05.739 --> 00:07:08.243 House in a truck bearing the sign, "We 00:07:08.243 --> 00:07:12.322 want our bonus." And they start from 00:07:12.322 --> 00:07:14.630 everywhere. They start from Los Angeles, 00:07:14.630 --> 00:07:16.921 they start from Las Vegas, they start 00:07:16.921 --> 00:07:19.380 from Mississippi and Texas. They come from 00:07:19.380 --> 00:07:23.003 everywhere. Antonio Oliver, a veteran 00:07:23.003 --> 00:07:26.502 gassed in the Argonne forest in France, 00:07:26.502 --> 00:07:29.200 drove from Pennsylvania with his twin sons, 00:07:29.200 --> 00:07:32.502 Nick and Joe. "My dad got word to march on 00:07:32.502 --> 00:07:35.418 Washington and thumped a tub for the 00:07:35.418 --> 00:07:38.002 bonus that they promised the veterans in 00:07:38.002 --> 00:07:41.528 1924. I think it was approaching dawn 00:07:41.528 --> 00:07:44.340 when he got there, and my father woke us 00:07:44.340 --> 00:07:48.115 up and says, 'There's the Capitol building.' 00:07:48.115 --> 00:07:52.994 I never forgot that." While streams of bonus 00:07:52.994 --> 00:07:56.183 marchers headed for the Capitol, Pelham 00:07:56.183 --> 00:07:59.633 Glassford, the new DC police chief, 00:07:59.633 --> 00:08:02.162 prepared for their invasion. "I had been 00:08:02.162 --> 00:08:04.485 aware from the first that the BEF was 00:08:04.485 --> 00:08:08.011 symbolic of the vast army of unemployed. 00:08:08.011 --> 00:08:10.512 Anything unfortunate that happened might 00:08:10.512 --> 00:08:12.872 easily precipitate widespread social 00:08:12.872 --> 00:08:14.428 disorder." 00:08:15.430 --> 00:08:18.764 Kellen Glassford was a decorated 00:08:18.764 --> 00:08:20.844 brigadier general during World War One 00:08:20.844 --> 00:08:24.301 who commanded the loyalty of his men in 00:08:24.301 --> 00:08:28.120 a very personal way. Glassford was really 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:30.747 pleased in many ways that the veterans 00:08:30.747 --> 00:08:33.934 were coming to Washington. But he knew 00:08:33.934 --> 00:08:35.824 that the politicians were not 00:08:35.824 --> 00:08:38.896 sympathetic. Officials were also 00:08:38.896 --> 00:08:40.710 concerned that a large number of African- 00:08:40.710 --> 00:08:43.315 American veterans were mixed in with the 00:08:43.315 --> 00:08:46.850 marchers. And the irony is that, going 00:08:46.850 --> 00:08:49.070 back to the Great War, the African- 00:08:49.070 --> 00:08:51.746 American troops were segregated from the 00:08:51.746 --> 00:08:55.040 white troops. Also preparing for the 00:08:55.040 --> 00:08:57.862 Bonus Army was a prominent World War One 00:08:57.862 --> 00:09:02.003 veteran: General Douglas A. MacArthur. The 00:09:02.003 --> 00:09:04.994 United States Army, through its Military 00:09:04.994 --> 00:09:08.758 Intelligence Division, remained greatly 00:09:08.758 --> 00:09:10.776 concerned about the possibility of 00:09:10.776 --> 00:09:12.102 revolution. 00:09:13.438 --> 00:09:18.341 The Army developed a plan to defend the 00:09:18.341 --> 00:09:20.598 United States Capitol in the case of 00:09:20.598 --> 00:09:23.940 civil insurrection, and they were talking 00:09:23.940 --> 00:09:31.311 about using tanks, machine guns, gas. By 00:09:31.311 --> 00:09:33.986 the time the Bonus Marchers arrived in 00:09:33.986 --> 00:09:38.195 Washington, the Army was more than ready 00:09:38.195 --> 00:09:44.694 to deal with them. At the end of May, 1932, 00:09:44.694 --> 00:09:47.618 nearly 10,000 Bonus Marchers occupied 00:09:47.618 --> 00:09:50.353 the nation's capital, and tens of 00:09:50.353 --> 00:09:53.573 thousands more were on their way. Police 00:09:53.573 --> 00:09:56.172 chief Glassford realized he was on his 00:09:56.172 --> 00:09:59.805 own. "They followed their leaders in the 00:09:59.805 --> 00:10:01.985 childlike faith that their government 00:10:01.985 --> 00:10:03.671 would help them, just as they had 00:10:03.671 --> 00:10:06.492 responded during the war. Hence, I felt 00:10:06.492 --> 00:10:08.527 these veterans could not be treated like 00:10:08.527 --> 00:10:14.669 bums." On June 4, 00:10:14.669 --> 00:10:17.538 thousands of Washingtonians lined the 00:10:17.538 --> 00:10:19.891 streets to see what the Washington Post 00:10:19.891 --> 00:10:22.347 called the "strangest military parade the 00:10:22.347 --> 00:10:26.277 Capitol had ever witnessed." The BEF was 00:10:26.277 --> 00:10:30.034 marching in full force. Within days, 00:10:30.034 --> 00:10:32.461 Walter Waters had a full-fledged 00:10:32.461 --> 00:10:34.846 lobbying operation underway. "The 00:10:34.846 --> 00:10:36.849 veterans, frankly, made a nuisance of 00:10:36.849 --> 00:10:39.571 themselves. (A) couple of veterans were 00:10:39.571 --> 00:10:41.747 always sitting in each representative's 00:10:41.747 --> 00:10:44.603 waiting rooms. The representatives were 00:10:44.603 --> 00:10:48.264 solicited outside the building as well." 00:10:48.264 --> 00:10:51.981 The strategy quickly paid off. After just 00:10:51.981 --> 00:10:54.494 two weeks, the House of Representatives 00:10:54.494 --> 00:10:58.070 passed the bonus bill. The BEF had won a 00:10:58.070 --> 00:11:01.230 battle, but a greater one awaited them in 00:11:01.230 --> 00:11:05.049 the Senate. 00:11:06.354 --> 00:11:08.633 In a remote neighborhood of Washington 00:11:08.633 --> 00:11:11.615 known as Anacostia, an enormous tent and 00:11:11.615 --> 00:11:15.477 shack city rose from the mudflats. 00:11:15.477 --> 00:11:18.368 Here, the threadbare heroes of World War 00:11:18.368 --> 00:11:22.101 One formed their last great encampment. 00:11:22.863 --> 00:11:26.104 "We just drove in, and we were ankle deep 00:11:26.104 --> 00:11:29.408 in mud. I never saw so much mud in my 00:11:29.408 --> 00:11:32.807 life." American flags could be seen flying 00:11:32.807 --> 00:11:37.249 from every possible vantage point. A city 00:11:37.249 --> 00:11:39.369 was laid out in Anacostia. The streets 00:11:39.369 --> 00:11:42.138 were named by states. There was a library 00:11:42.138 --> 00:11:44.545 in the center of it run by the Salvation 00:11:44.545 --> 00:11:47.442 Army. There was music day and night. There 00:11:47.442 --> 00:11:49.594 was gospel music, and there was blues 00:11:49.594 --> 00:11:51.495 music, and there was country music and 00:11:51.495 --> 00:11:56.910 popular music. There were people who 00:11:56.910 --> 00:11:59.805 built beautiful little replicas of 00:11:59.805 --> 00:12:02.645 suburban homes. There were guys who were 00:12:02.645 --> 00:12:05.623 buried alive for money. "I will remember 00:12:05.623 --> 00:12:09.256 the veteran laying in a casket, saying, 00:12:09.256 --> 00:12:11.443 'Hey, they treat us like we were dead 00:12:11.443 --> 00:12:14.800 people.'" A popular form of entertainment 00:12:14.800 --> 00:12:18.699 in the camp was boxing. "I was the best boxer." 00:12:18.699 --> 00:12:22.521 (other) "I was." "We'd box and pass a hat. 00:12:22.521 --> 00:12:24.489 My dad would get a little irate if we 00:12:24.489 --> 00:12:27.499 didn't really punch each other out. Then he'd 00:12:27.499 --> 00:12:29.953 throw up both of our arms. It was always 00:12:29.953 --> 00:12:32.865 draw, always a draw, always a draw." 00:12:32.865 --> 00:12:35.231 People across the country sympathized 00:12:35.231 --> 00:12:37.390 with the Bonus Marchers' plight, but to 00:12:37.390 --> 00:12:39.496 official Washington, they were just a 00:12:39.496 --> 00:12:41.616 sign of trouble on the horizon. 00:12:44.232 --> 00:12:47.078 One of the stories that went largely 00:12:47.078 --> 00:12:49.136 unreported was that the color line 00:12:49.136 --> 00:12:50.658 seemed to have vanished in the Bonus 00:12:50.658 --> 00:12:54.512 Army camps. Visitors were astonished to 00:12:54.512 --> 00:12:57.521 see black veterans and white veterans 00:12:57.521 --> 00:13:01.485 sharing billets, chores, and rations. The 00:13:01.485 --> 00:13:04.497 military experience has the potential 00:13:04.497 --> 00:13:07.117 for transcending things like race. And 00:13:07.117 --> 00:13:11.192 for black veterans to be in company with 00:13:11.192 --> 00:13:14.817 white veterans was a revolutionary thing. 00:13:16.549 --> 00:13:19.270 Roy Wilkins, an enterprising young 00:13:19.270 --> 00:13:21.625 reporter working for the NAACP, 00:13:21.625 --> 00:13:25.137 decided to visit and see for himself. "At 00:13:25.137 --> 00:13:27.722 Anacostia, there was no residential 00:13:27.722 --> 00:13:30.079 segregation. Recruits of any color were 00:13:30.079 --> 00:13:32.523 made welcome." "It was a big event in 00:13:32.523 --> 00:13:37.188 the part of the city that I lived in. They 00:13:37.188 --> 00:13:39.976 had groups of whites and Negroes that 00:13:39.976 --> 00:13:43.388 formed a unit because they were from the 00:13:43.388 --> 00:13:47.177 same state. That was not so usual for the 00:13:47.177 --> 00:13:50.248 city of Washington." And there were lots 00:13:50.248 --> 00:13:52.123 of people, especially people in the 00:13:52.123 --> 00:13:54.221 military, who saw this is a very, very 00:13:54.221 --> 00:13:57.235 dangerous thing. "And right there with the 00:13:57.235 --> 00:14:00.481 tragedy of it all, men can live, eat, play, 00:14:00.481 --> 00:14:03.922 and work together, be they black or white. 00:14:03.922 --> 00:14:06.856 Just as the BEF demonstrated." 00:14:09.369 --> 00:14:11.419 On June 17, 00:14:11.419 --> 00:14:14.374 1932, thousands of bonus marchers 00:14:14.374 --> 00:14:16.548 assembled on Capitol Hill to maintain a 00:14:16.548 --> 00:14:19.268 vigil on the Senate, scheduled to vote on 00:14:19.268 --> 00:14:22.552 the bonus bill passed by the house. The 00:14:22.552 --> 00:14:25.118 shouts and songs of the veterans, "The 00:14:25.118 --> 00:14:27.373 Yanks are starving! The Yanks are 00:14:27.373 --> 00:14:30.241 starving!" could be heard in the Senate 00:14:30.241 --> 00:14:34.103 Chamber as the heated debate went on. 00:14:34.103 --> 00:14:36.946 Late in the day, Waters delivered the 00:14:36.946 --> 00:14:40.108 result to his troops. The Senate 00:14:40.108 --> 00:14:43.178 overwhelmingly defeated the bonus bill, 00:14:43.178 --> 00:14:45.598 and the men were extraordinarily 00:14:45.598 --> 00:14:50.287 disappointed. But fortunately, a newspaper 00:14:50.287 --> 00:14:52.710 reporter suggested to Waters that he 00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:56.809 ought to order the men to sing "America." 00:14:56.809 --> 00:15:00.551 And they did. They all sang "America," and 00:15:00.551 --> 00:15:03.829 they dispersed peacefully. But Waters 00:15:03.829 --> 00:15:06.262 urged the marchers to remain in 00:15:06.262 --> 00:15:09.873 Washington. "I am not advising anybody to 00:15:09.873 --> 00:15:11.800 go home. 00:15:11.800 --> 00:15:14.553 We intend to maintain our army in 00:15:14.553 --> 00:15:18.376 Washington regardless of who goes home." 00:15:18.376 --> 00:15:20.398 President Hoover and other people kept 00:15:20.398 --> 00:15:22.723 saying, "Why can't we drive them home?" 00:15:22.723 --> 00:15:25.428 A lot of these people didn't have a home. 00:15:25.428 --> 00:15:28.145 It was pretty clear to everybody that they 00:15:28.145 --> 00:15:30.869 could not remain. But no one knew how to 00:15:30.869 --> 00:15:32.724 get rid of them, and no one wanted 00:15:32.724 --> 00:15:35.714 violence. On July 16, the last day 00:15:35.714 --> 00:15:37.774 Congress was in session, 00:15:37.774 --> 00:15:41.103 Washington was on edge. Thousands of 00:15:41.103 --> 00:15:45.256 angry veterans surrounded the Capitol. 00:15:45.256 --> 00:15:47.449 Near midnight, the 72nd Congress 00:15:47.449 --> 00:15:49.570 adjourned. 00:15:49.570 --> 00:15:52.059 Congressmen left through back doors and 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:54.141 underground tunnels to avoid 00:15:54.141 --> 00:15:57.073 confrontations. The situation had come to 00:15:57.073 --> 00:16:00.430 a head. The president ordered the 00:16:00.430 --> 00:16:02.949 evacuation of the veterans from downtown 00:16:02.949 --> 00:16:09.324 Washington. By police count, there were 00:16:09.324 --> 00:16:12.712 still 11,698 marchers and their 00:16:12.712 --> 00:16:15.683 families in Washington. Midway between 00:16:15.683 --> 00:16:18.130 the White House and the Capitol stood a 00:16:18.130 --> 00:16:20.377 row of half demolished buildings where 00:16:20.377 --> 00:16:23.075 hundreds of marchers were living. On the 00:16:23.075 --> 00:16:25.936 morning of July 28, the wheels were in 00:16:25.936 --> 00:16:28.297 motion to evict them. 00:16:28.297 --> 00:16:32.462 Waters urged his men to cooperate. Then 00:16:32.462 --> 00:16:34.512 someone began to throw bricks at the 00:16:34.512 --> 00:16:37.076 police. Glassford and several police 00:16:37.076 --> 00:16:39.643 officers run to the area. Two cops 00:16:39.643 --> 00:16:44.626 are are grabbed. One cop pulls out a gun, 00:16:44.626 --> 00:16:49.046 and he fires. Another cop turns, and he 00:16:49.046 --> 00:16:53.565 fires a shot. One veteran was dead, and 00:16:53.565 --> 00:16:56.765 another lay dying. 00:16:56.765 --> 00:16:59.373 Now there's been bloodshed, and now you 00:16:59.373 --> 00:17:02.643 bring in the troops. When MacArthur moved 00:17:02.643 --> 00:17:06.054 his troops to the affected area, he knew 00:17:06.054 --> 00:17:09.074 exactly what he was going to do. And he 00:17:09.074 --> 00:17:11.865 adorned himself in his dress uniform, 00:17:11.865 --> 00:17:14.576 along with his major aide, Dwight D. 00:17:14.576 --> 00:17:18.632 Eisenhower. The force stepped off at 4:30 00:17:18.632 --> 00:17:20.505 p.m. 00:17:20.505 --> 00:17:23.009 More than 200 cavalry men spread out 00:17:23.009 --> 00:17:25.234 across Constitution and Pennsylvania 00:17:25.234 --> 00:17:27.522 Avenues. 00:17:27.522 --> 00:17:30.963 Behind them came 400 infantrymen, 00:17:30.963 --> 00:17:32.954 followed up by tanks and armored 00:17:32.954 --> 00:17:35.906 vehicles. "I was about seven years old 00:17:35.906 --> 00:17:37.796 at the time, 00:17:37.796 --> 00:17:40.023 and the troops were out in Pennsylvania 00:17:40.023 --> 00:17:43.892 Avenue. I was scared. And my dad kept 00:17:43.892 --> 00:17:45.529 saying, "Nothing's going to happen." 00:17:45.529 --> 00:17:49.268 The cavalrymen, one of whom is Major 00:17:49.268 --> 00:17:51.831 Patton, have got their sabers out. 00:17:51.831 --> 00:17:54.586 The soldiers don gas masks, and without 00:17:54.586 --> 00:17:57.681 warning, began hurling gas grenades at 00:17:57.681 --> 00:18:01.167 the veterans. The troops advanced, some 00:18:01.167 --> 00:18:04.813 jabbing with bayonets. "Tear gas was 00:18:04.813 --> 00:18:07.549 just burning my face. I was trailing 00:18:07.549 --> 00:18:09.555 behind my dad, and he kept hollering, 00:18:09.555 --> 00:18:12.427 'Come on, boy! Come on boy!'" 00:18:12.427 --> 00:18:15.519 Marchers were choking from the gas, just 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:17.694 like the battlefields in France. "And so 00:18:17.694 --> 00:18:19.763 they're being forced out of their shacks 00:18:19.763 --> 00:18:22.606 by smoke bombs and tear gas hurled by 00:18:22.606 --> 00:18:25.329 the troops who have been called out by 00:18:25.329 --> 00:18:27.246 the President of the United States." 00:18:27.246 --> 00:18:30.757 Chief Glassford stood by helplessly. 00:18:30.757 --> 00:18:32.859 "The veterans did not believe the 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:34.753 country for which they had fought 00:18:34.753 --> 00:18:36.671 would ignore the plight into which 00:18:36.671 --> 00:18:38.459 the depression had placed them. Many 00:18:38.459 --> 00:18:40.831 did not believe that United States troops 00:18:40.831 --> 00:18:44.007 would take the field against them." By early 00:18:44.007 --> 00:18:46.432 evening, most of the marchers had been 00:18:46.432 --> 00:18:49.030 driven across a drawbridge that led to 00:18:49.030 --> 00:18:52.995 their main camp. The President does not want 00:18:52.995 --> 00:18:56.530 MacArthur to cross the bridge, and 00:18:56.530 --> 00:19:00.327 MacArthur disregards the order. Eisenhower 00:19:00.327 --> 00:19:02.954 later says that he saw this happen. 00:19:02.954 --> 00:19:05.078 MacArthur says, "I cannot bother with 00:19:05.078 --> 00:19:08.077 pieces of paper during a military operation." 00:19:08.077 --> 00:19:11.717 And so he crosses the bridge. All through the 00:19:11.717 --> 00:19:14.489 camp were scenes of panic. 00:19:14.489 --> 00:19:16.067 "My dad says, 'Let's get the hell out of 00:19:16.067 --> 00:19:19.509 here. The soldiers are gonna kill us.'" 00:19:19.509 --> 00:19:22.159 Then troops began to set fire to their 00:19:22.159 --> 00:19:24.610 wooden shacks. 00:19:24.610 --> 00:19:27.395 One reporter wrote, "The blaze was so big, 00:19:27.395 --> 00:19:31.329 it lit the whole sky - a nightmare come to 00:19:31.329 --> 00:19:35.235 life." The President looked out a window 00:19:35.235 --> 00:19:36.630 of the White House in the direction of 00:19:36.630 --> 00:19:41.011 the fire, then retired for the night. 00:19:41.011 --> 00:19:43.952 "And the roaring flames sound the death 00:19:43.952 --> 00:19:46.921 knell to the fantastic Bonus Army, that 00:19:46.921 --> 00:19:50.833 ends so disastrously in the shadow of the 00:19:50.833 --> 00:19:55.799 Capitol of the United States of America." 00:19:58.758 --> 00:20:02.107 The morning after the Bonus Route, public 00:20:02.107 --> 00:20:04.130 sentiment took a dramatic turn against 00:20:04.130 --> 00:20:07.875 Herbert Hoover. He argued that this was a 00:20:07.875 --> 00:20:10.667 communist revolution, and there wasn't 00:20:10.667 --> 00:20:14.300 one bit of evidence to prove it. 00:20:14.300 --> 00:20:17.180 If the expulsion needed a human face, it 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:20.147 came in the person of Joe Angelo, whose 00:20:20.147 --> 00:20:23.529 story was published across the nation. 00:20:23.529 --> 00:20:25.261 Joe Angelo gets the Distinguished 00:20:25.261 --> 00:20:27.281 Service Cross for saving Patton's life 00:20:27.281 --> 00:20:29.697 on the battlefield. The next morning, 00:20:29.697 --> 00:20:32.955 Angelo comes to the burned-out field to 00:20:32.955 --> 00:20:35.953 see Patton. Patton says, "Take this man 00:20:35.953 --> 00:20:39.878 away. I don't want to see this man." 00:20:40.617 --> 00:20:41.859 [Music] 00:20:41.859 --> 00:20:44.159 Walter waters quickly faded into 00:20:44.159 --> 00:20:47.019 obscurity. "The BEF was broken up. The men 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:48.927 returned to some city or other, there to 00:20:48.927 --> 00:20:51.817 roam the streets hopelessly, seeking work 00:20:51.817 --> 00:20:54.436 or to shuffle in breadlines. 00:20:54.436 --> 00:20:57.696 There they remain, crying examples not of 00:20:57.696 --> 00:20:59.171 the need for the bonus, but of the need 00:20:59.171 --> 00:21:03.137 for a new American system." So just a few 00:21:03.137 --> 00:21:06.566 months after the Bonus Marchers are 00:21:06.566 --> 00:21:09.187 driven out of Washington, you have a song 00:21:09.187 --> 00:21:12.082 which is called "Brother Can You Spare a 00:21:12.082 --> 00:21:15.251 Dime." This song was directly inspired by 00:21:15.251 --> 00:21:19.532 the bonus marchers. (song: They used to 00:21:19.532 --> 00:21:22.925 tell me I was building a dream with peace 00:21:22.925 --> 00:21:27.811 and glory ahead. Why should I be standing 00:21:27.811 --> 00:21:35.193 in line...") And it just captured the 00:21:35.193 --> 00:21:38.110 desperation that was the story of the 00:21:38.110 --> 00:21:40.949 Bonus March. (song: Say, buddy, can you 00:21:40.949 --> 00:21:45.957 spare a dime?) On November 8, 1932, 00:21:45.957 --> 00:21:50.135 Americans, desperate for change, elected 00:21:50.135 --> 00:21:54.023 Franklin Delano Roosevelt president. 00:21:54.023 --> 00:21:56.675 The first thing that Roosevelt does, he 00:21:56.675 --> 00:21:58.867 produces something called the Economy 00:21:58.867 --> 00:22:01.759 Act. The big victims are veterans. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:05.102 Disabled veterans. Still, the veterans 00:22:05.102 --> 00:22:08.592 kept returning to Washington each year. 00:22:08.592 --> 00:22:11.560 FDR knows that he cannot use force 00:22:11.560 --> 00:22:13.863 against the veterans. He also knows he 00:22:13.863 --> 00:22:16.312 doesn't want them in Washington, DC. Many 00:22:16.312 --> 00:22:18.424 of the men were sent to work in 00:22:18.424 --> 00:22:20.017 rehabilitation camps in the Florida Keys. 00:22:20.017 --> 00:22:24.337 On September 2, 1935, the most powerful 00:22:24.337 --> 00:22:26.589 hurricane ever to hit the Western 00:22:26.589 --> 00:22:29.598 Hemisphere hits in the Upper Keys where 00:22:29.598 --> 00:22:33.172 these guys are located. Several hundred 00:22:33.172 --> 00:22:36.049 of them are killed. The government 00:22:36.049 --> 00:22:39.453 attempted to suppress the news. But one 00:22:39.453 --> 00:22:42.175 of the first rescue boats to get in carried 00:22:42.175 --> 00:22:44.921 the renowned writer Ernest Hemingway. 00:22:44.921 --> 00:22:48.554 In an angry piece, he wrote, "The veterans 00:22:48.554 --> 00:22:52.385 in those camps were practically murdered." 00:22:52.385 --> 00:22:54.810 When the public finally learned the 00:22:54.810 --> 00:22:57.180 truth, opposition to paying the bonus 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:59.337 began to vanish. 00:23:01.629 --> 00:23:05.694 In 1936, war clouds were gathering again 00:23:05.694 --> 00:23:08.574 in Europe. Once again, the bonus bill is 00:23:08.574 --> 00:23:10.832 brought up. It is vetoed again by 00:23:10.832 --> 00:23:12.880 President Roosevelt, but this time 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:14.460 there's enough power in the House and 00:23:14.460 --> 00:23:17.293 Senate to override the veto. "The bonus 00:23:17.293 --> 00:23:19.792 bill becomes law, and veterans' tab on 00:23:19.792 --> 00:23:25.514 World War One is paid in full." Some four 00:23:25.514 --> 00:23:30.523 million veterans were overjoyed. So the 00:23:30.523 --> 00:23:32.934 story comes to an end. These guys get 00:23:32.934 --> 00:23:37.179 their money. Their lives change. "My dad 00:23:37.179 --> 00:23:40.901 came in the house with seven $100 bills, 00:23:40.901 --> 00:23:43.480 and I thought, 'Oh, is that what the 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:46.761 bonus is?' you know. We didn't know what a 00:23:46.761 --> 00:23:50.276 bonus was. You know it's money. After all 00:23:50.276 --> 00:23:54.385 that time." On December 7, 1941, Pearl 00:23:54.385 --> 00:23:57.429 Harbor was attacked, and a new generation 00:23:57.429 --> 00:23:59.796 was called to serve. During the Second 00:23:59.796 --> 00:24:01.130 World War, 00:24:01.130 --> 00:24:04.285 Roosevelt admits World War one veterans' 00:24:04.285 --> 00:24:07.188 arguments. He will say that soldiers now 00:24:07.188 --> 00:24:09.188 serving in our army will have to be 00:24:09.188 --> 00:24:11.259 compensated for the opportunities 00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:14.452 they've missed. What emerged was the 00:24:14.452 --> 00:24:16.784 landmark piece of legislation known as 00:24:16.784 --> 00:24:19.755 the GI Bill of Rights, signed into law in 00:24:19.755 --> 00:24:22.837 June of 1944. It put millions of people 00:24:22.837 --> 00:24:25.498 into housing, put millions of people in 00:24:25.498 --> 00:24:27.701 college, put millions of people into 00:24:27.701 --> 00:24:33.248 small businesses, and it changed America. 00:24:33.248 --> 00:24:36.988 The legacy of the Bonus Army can be seen 00:24:36.988 --> 00:24:39.111 in all the marches on Washington that 00:24:39.111 --> 00:24:42.367 have followed. And American soldiers 00:24:42.367 --> 00:24:45.091 returning from war today expect the 00:24:45.091 --> 00:24:48.390 government to keep its promises. The 00:24:48.390 --> 00:24:51.015 Bonus March was a very visible lesson to 00:24:51.015 --> 00:24:54.178 political leaders that they did need to 00:24:54.178 --> 00:24:56.753 do something to respond to the 00:24:56.753 --> 00:25:00.531 individual needs of Americans. 00:25:00.531 --> 00:25:02.762 It tells us about the determination of 00:25:02.762 --> 00:25:06.652 people, to make sure that veterans are 00:25:06.652 --> 00:25:09.215 recognized for the service that they 00:25:09.215 --> 00:25:12.306 render to the nation. "In my later years, 00:25:12.306 --> 00:25:15.684 I understood what it meant. It meant 00:25:15.684 --> 00:25:19.838 freedom to demonstrate, and it showed 00:25:19.838 --> 00:25:23.696 America was a free, working democracy." 00:25:23.696 --> 00:25:27.742 [Music] 00:25:27.742 --> 00:25:29.641 The March of the Bonus Army is available 00:25:29.641 --> 00:25:32.337 on video cassette or DVD. The companion 00:25:32.337 --> 00:25:35.336 book to the program is also available. To 00:25:35.336 --> 00:25:39.072 order, call PBS Home Video at 1-800 play 00:25:39.072 --> 00:25:49.278 PBS. (song: Once I built a railroad, made 00:25:49.278 --> 00:25:57.811 it run. I made it race against time. Once I built 00:25:57.811 --> 00:26:04.564 a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you 00:26:04.564 --> 00:26:11.343 spare a dime?) Major funding for this 00:26:11.343 --> 00:26:15.443 program was provided by the Disabled 00:26:15.443 --> 00:26:18.280 American Veterans National Service 00:26:18.280 --> 00:26:20.514 Foundation. Since World War One, DAV 00:26:20.514 --> 00:26:22.774 has helped veterans recover from the 00:26:22.774 --> 00:26:24.945 wounds and scars of war. DAV - building 00:26:24.945 --> 00:26:26.586 better lives for America's disabled 00:26:26.586 --> 00:26:28.724 veterans and their families. Additional 00:26:28.724 --> 00:26:30.644 production support provided by Tawani 00:26:30.644 --> 00:26:33.001 Foundation - promoting the ideal of the 00:26:33.001 --> 00:26:35.285 citizen soldier at the Pritzker Military 00:26:35.285 --> 00:26:38.816 Library, Chicago, Illinois, and by the 00:26:38.816 --> 00:26:44.759 Humanities Council of Washington, DC. 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:53.120 We are PBS.