Bonus Army

Remember that time when MacArthur, Patton, Eisenhower tried to slaughter thousands of American WWI veterans on US soil (plus a minor role by the grandson of President Ulysses Grant)? I'll be honest I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about this period in US history and somehow this event in went under my radar.

Brief prelude that led up to this faithful day. The short story is that these WWI vets were promised bonus pay several years down the road, 1945 to be specific, about 20 years after they came back. Unfortunately, not very long after coming back, the Great Depression hit, leaving lots of families in very uncomfortable situations and they asked for Congress to pay them out what they were promised a little early but Hoover specifically and Congress to a lesser degree, were not interested in doing that so the veterans and their families and other allied citizens, decided to protest.

It was not a small group of people either. The protest and encampments totalled about 40,000 people, which included 17,000 WWI vets. They set up a couple camps, the main camp was in Anacostia Flats (now Anacostia Park) and the other in some abandoned buildings around Pennsylvania and 3rd Street. This is where the grandson of President Grant comes in, Ulysses S. Grant III. Strictly speaking, the camp at Anacostia Flats was illegal but the DC Police Superintendent, Pelham Glassford, won a concession from Mr. Grant, then the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks for DC, that he would not make a fuss about it.

The camps setup around the buildings at Pennsylvania and 3rd Street were not doing as well. After some prodding of Hoover, DC commissioners ordered the clearing of the buildings and campsite, after repeated unrest. It was during that operation and the pushback it caused that a DC police officer shot and killed two WWI veterans, William Hushka and Eric Carlson.
Shortly thereafter, after continuing unrest, the commissioners asked Hoover for military support. General Douglas MacArthur was ordered by Sec of War Patrick Hurley, to disperse the protestors.

General MacArthur, with junior aide Major Eisenhower, ordered General Miles to assembly the forces on the Ellipse, they brought in the 12th Infantry and the 3rd Calvary, commanded by then Major George Patton.
MacArthur wanted to lead the operation personally and the 12th Infantry regiment and 3rd Calvary, with five M1917 light tanks, rolled into the area of Pennsylvania and 3rd Street. The veterans thought at first they were there to support them but realized their mistake when Maj. Patton ordered the charge.
The 12th Infantry regiment, with gas masks, fixed bayonets and adamsite tear gas, moved to break up the campsite. No shots were fired. The veterans and their families and supporters, fled across the river to the Anacostia Flats camp.
This is where it gets a little controversial. Hoover apparently ordered MacArthur to not pursue them across the river, twice, but MacArthur decided they were trying to overthrow the US Government, so he ordered everyone to cross the river and crush the protestors and destroy the camp. 55 veterans were injured and 135 arrested. One women, a wife of a veteran, miscarried during the attack of the camp and a 12-week old baby later died from the adamsite used to disperse the protestors though the official review of the incident blamed other medical conditions.
At some point the makeshift shacks and tents in the little city they had established, caught fire and completely burned everything to the ground. The official incident report never determined the source of the fire or how it started.


So that is how the US Army fought a war against its own people, on US soil.

I tell this story to make the point that when people say "it can't happen here" you can tell them the story of the Bonus Army War, in which Hoover, MacArthur, Patton, Eisenhower and even the grandson of President Ulysses S. Grant, had their roles to play in the war on WWI veterans and their families, who were just trying to end the suffering of their families during the Great Depression and that request was met with violence.

(For brevity, I have given a very condensed version of events. I found the whole thing fascinating and sad and absolutely changed by perception of certain historical figures.)