PBS Documentary: The March of the Bonus Army

This is an ugly piece of American history that has been swept under the rug. Very few people know about this shameful event where the US Army, led by some of the most revered heroes of WWII, were turned on the veterans of WWI in the streets of Washington, DC.

In the summer of 1932, at the height of

the Great Depression, an impoverished

army of 45,000 World War One veterans

marched on Washington, DC.

They believed that if they came to

Congress, that Congress would finally

authorize immediate payment of bonds

that they had been promised for the

losses that they suffered during World

War One. But Congress refused to pay the

bonus, and the army brutally drove the

veterans away. "It's war.

The greatest concentration of fighting

troops in Washington since 1865." This is

the saga of the Bonus Army in a March

that changed the nation.

(Singing "Remembery my forgotten man. You

put a rock right in his hand....")

Major funding for this program was

provided by the Disabled American

Veterans' National Service Foundation.

Since World War One, DAV has helped

veterans recover from the wounds and

scars of war. DAV - building better lives

for America's disabled veterans and

their families. Additional production

support provided by

Tawani Foundation - promoting the ideal of

the citizen soldier at the Pritzker

Military Library, Chicago Illinois; and by

the Humanities Council of Washington, DC.

[Music]

America was not prepared when it entered

World War One in 1917. Fighting the

Germans required young American men by

the millions, and the only way to get

them was through conscription. The

American Army, for the first time in its

history, will be composed of a majority

of conscripted troops. And when the draft

is explained to the American people, it's

called Selective Service. Some men were

selected to fight, others to work in

needed defense industries, or as farmers.

So the different conception of military

service as work, as opposed to just

simply civic duty. The first American

troops arrived in France in June of 1917.

In just 18 months, nearly 100,000 lost

their lives. 200,000 more were wounded or

gassed. Also over there were hundreds of

thousands of African-American soldiers.

Barred from combat with American units,

many fought courageously under the

French flag. For the first time, many of

these people experienced what it was

like to be treated

as fully human beings by white people.

When the armistice was signed on

November 11, 1918, most of the Americans

that had served would never be the same.

As the first waves of troops returned

from Europe, the nation turned out to

honor them with parades. The veterans

quickly realized the high price they had

paid. Let's say a guy didn't go to war -

stayed home working at an arms factory.

He would probably get maybe 10 times as

much as a soldier would. A soldier in

combat was getting about a buck, buck and

a quarter a day. Soon after the war,

veterans began to argue that soldiers

should be compensated for the wages they

lost while serving their country. They

very carefully used the terms "adjusted

compensation" to be clear that what they

are asking for is not a bonus; they are

asking for back wages that are due to

them. It was the detractors who called

it a bonus.

Finally, in 1924, Congress granted World

War One veterans adjusted universal

compensation. A law had granted them the

bones equivalent to a dollar to a dollar

and a quarter a day for every day they

served, which in many cases would be six,

eight hundred, or a thousand dollars. But

there was a catch. They don't get a nickel

of the money until 1945. Unless they die.

That's why they called it the "tombstone

bonus." In 1928, Herbert Clark Hoover, a

self-made millionaire, was elected

president. In his inaugural address,

Hoover proclaimed that the future of the

country was bright with hope.

Just seven months later, the stock market

collapsed, and the country descended into

the Great Depression.

[Music]

In America in 1932, hunger and

desperation stalked the land. 25% of

workers were unemployed, and many were

veterans. One of them was Walter W. Waters,

down on his luck in Portland, Oregon. He

had been a sergeant in the war, and

that's an indication that you were a

pretty good soldier. And there were a lot

of veterans sitting around trying to

find what to do next. Then came a ray of

hope.

A bill calling for an immediate cash

payment of the veterans' bonus was

introduced in Congress. Waters became

obsessed with it. "During this time, I was

anxiously watching reports in the

newspapers of the progress of bonus

legislation. And I noticed that the highly

organized lobbies in Washington were

producing results, regardless of the

justice or injustice of the demand." At a

meeting of jobless veterans, Waters stood

up and urged them to march on Washington.

And when that happened, it kind of

clicked for these guys. Eventually, there

were about 300 of them. And they go down

to the railroad yard to hop freight, and

they go all the way across the country to

Washington. (Song "Once I built a

railroad...) They called themselves the

Bonus Expeditionary Force, or BEF - a

play on the American Expeditionary Force,

the collective name for the troops sent

to France. But soon they were simply

known as the Bonus Army. They carried

knapsacks or duffle bags or bed rolls

with tin cups dangling. They had $30 among

them. Meanwhile, word of the BEF was

spreading. Even as Waters and his men

were heading towards the Capitol, 25 vets

from Tennessee were circling the White

House in a truck bearing the sign, "We

want our bonus." And they start from

everywhere. They start from Los Angeles,

they start from Las Vegas, they start

from Mississippi and Texas. They come from

everywhere. Antonio Oliver, a veteran

gassed in the Argonne forest in France,

drove from Pennsylvania with his twin sons,

Nick and Joe. "My dad got word to march on

Washington and thumped a tub for the

bonus that they promised the veterans in

1924. I think it was approaching dawn

when he got there, and my father woke us

up and says, 'There's the Capitol building.'

I never forgot that." While streams of bonus

marchers headed for the Capitol, Pelham

Glassford, the new DC police chief,

prepared for their invasion. "I had been

aware from the first that the BEF was

symbolic of the vast army of unemployed.

Anything unfortunate that happened might

easily precipitate widespread social

disorder."

Kellen Glassford was a decorated

brigadier general during World War One

who commanded the loyalty of his men in

a very personal way. Glassford was really

pleased in many ways that the veterans

were coming to Washington. But he knew

that the politicians were not

sympathetic. Officials were also

concerned that a large number of African-

American veterans were mixed in with the

marchers. And the irony is that, going

back to the Great War, the African-

American troops were segregated from the

white troops. Also preparing for the

Bonus Army was a prominent World War One

veteran: General Douglas A. MacArthur. The

United States Army, through its Military

Intelligence Division, remained greatly

concerned about the possibility of

revolution.

The Army developed a plan to defend the

United States Capitol in the case of

civil insurrection, and they were talking

about using tanks, machine guns, gas. By

the time the Bonus Marchers arrived in

Washington, the Army was more than ready

to deal with them. At the end of May, 1932,

nearly 10,000 Bonus Marchers occupied

the nation's capital, and tens of

thousands more were on their way. Police

chief Glassford realized he was on his

own. "They followed their leaders in the

childlike faith that their government

would help them, just as they had

responded during the war. Hence, I felt

these veterans could not be treated like

bums." On June 4,

thousands of Washingtonians lined the

streets to see what the Washington Post

called the "strangest military parade the

Capitol had ever witnessed." The BEF was

marching in full force. Within days,

Walter Waters had a full-fledged

lobbying operation underway. "The

veterans, frankly, made a nuisance of

themselves. (A) couple of veterans were

always sitting in each representative's

waiting rooms. The representatives were

solicited outside the building as well."

The strategy quickly paid off. After just

two weeks, the House of Representatives

passed the bonus bill. The BEF had won a

battle, but a greater one awaited them in

the Senate.

In a remote neighborhood of Washington

known as Anacostia, an enormous tent and

shack city rose from the mudflats.

Here, the threadbare heroes of World War

One formed their last great encampment.

"We just drove in, and we were ankle deep

in mud. I never saw so much mud in my

life." American flags could be seen flying

from every possible vantage point. A city

was laid out in Anacostia. The streets

were named by states. There was a library

in the center of it run by the Salvation

Army. There was music day and night. There

was gospel music, and there was blues

music, and there was country music and

popular music. There were people who

built beautiful little replicas of

suburban homes. There were guys who were

buried alive for money. "I will remember

the veteran laying in a casket, saying,

'Hey, they treat us like we were dead

people.'" A popular form of entertainment

in the camp was boxing. "I was the best boxer."

(other) "I was." "We'd box and pass a hat.

My dad would get a little irate if we

didn't really punch each other out. Then he'd

throw up both of our arms. It was always

draw, always a draw, always a draw."

People across the country sympathized

with the Bonus Marchers' plight, but to

official Washington, they were just a

sign of trouble on the horizon.

One of the stories that went largely

unreported was that the color line

seemed to have vanished in the Bonus

Army camps. Visitors were astonished to

see black veterans and white veterans

sharing billets, chores, and rations. The

military experience has the potential

for transcending things like race. And

for black veterans to be in company with

white veterans was a revolutionary thing.

Roy Wilkins, an enterprising young

reporter working for the NAACP,

decided to visit and see for himself. "At

Anacostia, there was no residential

segregation. Recruits of any color were

made welcome." "It was a big event in

the part of the city that I lived in. They

had groups of whites and Negroes that

formed a unit because they were from the

same state. That was not so usual for the

city of Washington." And there were lots

of people, especially people in the

military, who saw this is a very, very

dangerous thing. "And right there with the

tragedy of it all, men can live, eat, play,

and work together, be they black or white.

Just as the BEF demonstrated."

On June 17,

1932, thousands of bonus marchers

assembled on Capitol Hill to maintain a

vigil on the Senate, scheduled to vote on

the bonus bill passed by the house. The

shouts and songs of the veterans, "The

Yanks are starving! The Yanks are

starving!" could be heard in the Senate

Chamber as the heated debate went on.

Late in the day, Waters delivered the

result to his troops. The Senate

overwhelmingly defeated the bonus bill,

and the men were extraordinarily

disappointed. But fortunately, a newspaper

reporter suggested to Waters that he

ought to order the men to sing "America."

And they did. They all sang "America," and

they dispersed peacefully. But Waters

urged the marchers to remain in

Washington. "I am not advising anybody to

go home.

We intend to maintain our army in

Washington regardless of who goes home."

President Hoover and other people kept

saying, "Why can't we drive them home?"

A lot of these people didn't have a home.

It was pretty clear to everybody that they

could not remain. But no one knew how to

get rid of them, and no one wanted

violence. On July 16, the last day

Congress was in session,

Washington was on edge. Thousands of

angry veterans surrounded the Capitol.

Near midnight, the 72nd Congress

adjourned.

Congressmen left through back doors and

underground tunnels to avoid

confrontations. The situation had come to

a head. The president ordered the

evacuation of the veterans from downtown

Washington. By police count, there were

still 11,698 marchers and their

families in Washington. Midway between

the White House and the Capitol stood a

row of half demolished buildings where

hundreds of marchers were living. On the

morning of July 28, the wheels were in

motion to evict them.

Waters urged his men to cooperate. Then

someone began to throw bricks at the

police. Glassford and several police

officers run to the area. Two cops

are are grabbed. One cop pulls out a gun,

and he fires. Another cop turns, and he

fires a shot. One veteran was dead, and

another lay dying.

Now there's been bloodshed, and now you

bring in the troops. When MacArthur moved

his troops to the affected area, he knew

exactly what he was going to do. And he

adorned himself in his dress uniform,

along with his major aide, Dwight D.

Eisenhower. The force stepped off at 4:30

p.m.

More than 200 cavalry men spread out

across Constitution and Pennsylvania

Avenues.

Behind them came 400 infantrymen,

followed up by tanks and armored

vehicles. "I was about seven years old

at the time,

and the troops were out in Pennsylvania

Avenue. I was scared. And my dad kept

saying, "Nothing's going to happen."

The cavalrymen, one of whom is Major

Patton, have got their sabers out.

The soldiers don gas masks, and without

warning, began hurling gas grenades at

the veterans. The troops advanced, some

jabbing with bayonets. "Tear gas was

just burning my face. I was trailing

behind my dad, and he kept hollering,

'Come on, boy! Come on boy!'"

Marchers were choking from the gas, just

like the battlefields in France. "And so

they're being forced out of their shacks

by smoke bombs and tear gas hurled by

the troops who have been called out by

the President of the United States."

Chief Glassford stood by helplessly.

"The veterans did not believe the

country for which they had fought

would ignore the plight into which

the depression had placed them. Many

did not believe that United States troops

would take the field against them." By early

evening, most of the marchers had been

driven across a drawbridge that led to

their main camp. The President does not want

MacArthur to cross the bridge, and

MacArthur disregards the order. Eisenhower

later says that he saw this happen.

MacArthur says, "I cannot bother with

pieces of paper during a military operation."

And so he crosses the bridge. All through the

camp were scenes of panic.

"My dad says, 'Let's get the hell out of

here. The soldiers are gonna kill us.'"

Then troops began to set fire to their

wooden shacks.

One reporter wrote, "The blaze was so big,

it lit the whole sky - a nightmare come to

life." The President looked out a window

of the White House in the direction of

the fire, then retired for the night.

"And the roaring flames sound the death

knell to the fantastic Bonus Army, that

ends so disastrously in the shadow of the

Capitol of the United States of America."

The morning after the Bonus Route, public

sentiment took a dramatic turn against

Herbert Hoover. He argued that this was a

communist revolution, and there wasn't

one bit of evidence to prove it.

If the expulsion needed a human face, it

came in the person of Joe Angelo, whose

story was published across the nation.

Joe Angelo gets the Distinguished

Service Cross for saving Patton's life

on the battlefield. The next morning,

Angelo comes to the burned-out field to

see Patton. Patton says, "Take this man

away. I don't want to see this man."

[Music]

Walter waters quickly faded into

obscurity. "The BEF was broken up. The men

returned to some city or other, there to

roam the streets hopelessly, seeking work

or to shuffle in breadlines.

There they remain, crying examples not of

the need for the bonus, but of the need

for a new American system." So just a few

months after the Bonus Marchers are

driven out of Washington, you have a song

which is called "Brother Can You Spare a

Dime." This song was directly inspired by

the bonus marchers. (song: They used to

tell me I was building a dream with peace

and glory ahead. Why should I be standing

in line...") And it just captured the

desperation that was the story of the

Bonus March. (song: Say, buddy, can you

spare a dime?) On November 8, 1932,

Americans, desperate for change, elected

Franklin Delano Roosevelt president.

The first thing that Roosevelt does, he

produces something called the Economy

Act. The big victims are veterans.

Disabled veterans. Still, the veterans

kept returning to Washington each year.

FDR knows that he cannot use force

against the veterans. He also knows he

doesn't want them in Washington, DC. Many

of the men were sent to work in

rehabilitation camps in the Florida Keys.

On September 2, 1935, the most powerful

hurricane ever to hit the Western

Hemisphere hits in the Upper Keys where

these guys are located. Several hundred

of them are killed. The government

attempted to suppress the news. But one

of the first rescue boats to get in carried

the renowned writer Ernest Hemingway.

In an angry piece, he wrote, "The veterans

in those camps were practically murdered."

When the public finally learned the

truth, opposition to paying the bonus

began to vanish.

In 1936, war clouds were gathering again

in Europe. Once again, the bonus bill is

brought up. It is vetoed again by

President Roosevelt, but this time

there's enough power in the House and

Senate to override the veto. "The bonus

bill becomes law, and veterans' tab on

World War One is paid in full." Some four

million veterans were overjoyed. So the

story comes to an end. These guys get

their money. Their lives change. "My dad

came in the house with seven $100 bills,

and I thought, 'Oh, is that what the

bonus is?' you know. We didn't know what a

bonus was. You know it's money. After all

that time." On December 7, 1941, Pearl

Harbor was attacked, and a new generation

was called to serve. During the Second

World War,

Roosevelt admits World War one veterans'

arguments. He will say that soldiers now

serving in our army will have to be

compensated for the opportunities

they've missed. What emerged was the

landmark piece of legislation known as

the GI Bill of Rights, signed into law in

June of 1944. It put millions of people

into housing, put millions of people in

college, put millions of people into

small businesses, and it changed America.

The legacy of the Bonus Army can be seen

in all the marches on Washington that

have followed. And American soldiers

returning from war today expect the

government to keep its promises. The

Bonus March was a very visible lesson to

political leaders that they did need to

do something to respond to the

individual needs of Americans.

It tells us about the determination of

people, to make sure that veterans are

recognized for the service that they

render to the nation. "In my later years,

I understood what it meant. It meant

freedom to demonstrate, and it showed

America was a free, working democracy."

[Music]

The March of the Bonus Army is available

on video cassette or DVD. The companion

book to the program is also available. To

order, call PBS Home Video at 1-800 play

PBS. (song: Once I built a railroad, made

it run. I made it race against time. Once I built

a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you

spare a dime?) Major funding for this

program was provided by the Disabled

American Veterans National Service

Foundation. Since World War One, DAV

has helped veterans recover from the

wounds and scars of war. DAV - building

better lives for America's disabled

veterans and their families. Additional

production support provided by Tawani

Foundation - promoting the ideal of the

citizen soldier at the Pritzker Military

Library, Chicago, Illinois, and by the

Humanities Council of Washington, DC.

We are PBS.