Bonus+March

=Bonus March=

toc The Bonus March, or Bonus Army, was when tens of thousands of World War 1 veterans, and other supporters of the cause gathered in the streets of Washington D.C. This was formed because the veterans wanted better payments for fighting in World War 1 but the money, by extant law, couldn't be given to them until 1945. The Bonus March was led by Walter W. Waters who was a former Sergeant in the U.S army. Some thought he led the riots because a Major General of the U.S.M.C encouraged him to. The Bonus March lasted for a few hours but was dispersed and rejected because the Army showed up.

Why were these people "marching"?
The Veterans were supposed to be paid money for fighting in that awful war. The payments were not supposed to be paid until 1945. The veterans weren't going to get their money until then because some stupid law that was made by the ASCL of 1924. This law included interest and a lot of complicated things. The Veterans thought process was that they didn't care about a law they just wanted the money no matter who they stepped on on their way.

The Law Intervenes
The law was called to get rid of the marchers. A police evacuation was ordered. The police went in and basically told the marchers to leave or they would shoot. The police killed a few people who refused to leave. This cause a disturbance in the White House.

How President Hoover Reacted
President Hoover got pretty mad at the police for killing the marchers. He thought, now, the only thing to do was send in the United States Army. The Army led by General MacArthur formed up. There were two regiments called in. These regiments had weapons and tanks. The tank crew was lead by Maj. George S. Patton.

What the Army Did
These regiments formed up on Pennsylvania Avenue. The attack started with the fixed bayonets coming in and evicting the marchers. This made the marchers "fall back" across the Anacostia River. President Hoover ordered the assaults of the marchers (who were also war veterans) to stop. General MacArthur ignored Hoovers orders and ordered another attack on the marchers. After this attack 100's of casualties took place. This was a really big mark in history because Soon to be World War Two soldiers were killing veterans of World War One.

Aftermath
After this many movies were made about it because it was so famous. Most of the movies had better endings though. The good thing about the Bonus March is that it got a few bills passed like the G.I. Bill of Rights. This Bill helped many Americans in The Second World War. Overall the whole thing didn't turn out to be that awful.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1963/4/1963_4_18.shtml http://www.lib.niu.edu/1993/ihy930564.html