The Bonus Army march took place in June of 1932 where 20,000 veterans set out to urge President Hoover in protest fashion to sign the 1924 “Bonus Bill” which was something that had laid around for eight years since it’s original introduction within the Congress in order to give those World War I veterans who had suffered hardships due to the war effort a little supplementary pay. President Hoover feared that this once again was another sign of people leaning on the government too much to cure their ills so when the angry vets came to Washington he dispatched the armed forces and local police to quell the riot. In the end several of the vets ended up passing away in the clash with bayonets (that’s what was used) and other weaponry that the police used, injuring several hundred of this country’s finest citizens.
The Bonus Army march was significant on several levels. First, it was the final straw in the re-election efforts of Herbert Hoover. Although he was so battered and bruised in a political sense his goose was probably already cooked anyway. The incident was really symbolic of Hoover’s term in office because instead of doing something for his own political expediency he stood on principle and dealt with whatever criticism that was laid at his feet. Sometimes you’ve got to throw your ideology to the wind and know when to use some more benefic and believable rhetoric whether it’s true or not. Even Abe Lincoln told a fib or two in his day for the good of the country.
The second way it was significant is that people got to see Douglas Macarthur at the top of his game ready to turn back the plighted vets at any cost it sounds like. This of course would be a precursor to some of the happenings that would involve Macarthur at Manila and then in Korea where he and Harry Truman finally clashed for the last time over whether to invade China. President Truman, being the commander and chief at the time as we know dumped Macarthur and decided to go another direction strategically. To get back to the matter at hand, disgruntled vets are certainly nothing that a government wants to have to deal with because these folks know how to get organized and use guns affectively and properly. It seems like there is a pattern of veterans not really being taken care of particularly well in this country, but certainly far better then most other countries around the world by my estimation.
Macarthur certainly was a man who once given a mission was ready to take full command and do whatever it took in order to accomplish that mission. You’ve got to wonder however if he’d been given a task by someone who he saw as a future political adversary in his future endeavors if he would have carried out that mission with the same kind of zeal. It always has troubled me to see even former generals like Wes Clark come out strongly for a political position one way or the other. I guess I just figure generals should stay out of the fray; certainly they should voice their concerns to their superiors, but maybe not public with it even if the ship is sinking.
Looking back at the Bonus Army incident it just verifies the fact that once Macarthur had his mind made up about something he would rarely want to hear he was wrong, whether it would be from Courtney Whitney, Richard Sutherland, or Charles Willoughby. I could be wrong on that, but it’s just my impression that the man was hard to bargain with. Excessive force is something that was used on these veterans as they tried to get their bonus and it is something that we’ve seen throughout history that was used in worker strikes, civil rights marches, and “peace” demonstrations. It’s sad that sometimes people have to be hurt physically before the negotiating table becomes a reality.
The whole thing was sad on several levels, not just that many veterans came away with unforgettable scars and death from what should have been a non-battle for them, but also the blow that this did to Hoover’s reputation as he was now especially viewed more then ever as a callous and unconcerned about the struggle of so many people. This was an untrue picture in many ways of a man who led the relief effort to help people after the Johnstown flood and helped lead the charge to help feed malnourished Europeans after World War I.
