In the spring of 1917, the United States decided to get up off of its ass and join the ruckus going on in Europe which we now call World War I. By that time, most of Europe had been grappling with each other for three years in what was described as hell on Earth.
With neither side able to break past the other, the conflict had collapsed into miles of mud filled trenches, barb wire, machine guns, poison gas, and the rotting dead. Over four million Americans either volunteered or were drafted into the military, of which over two million were shipped overseas to Europe. The sudden addition of these U.S. troops tipped the balance of the conflict in favor of the Allies, ending the war in November of 1918. A good comparison for the U.S.’s involvement in World War I would be a guy leaning against the wall during a bar fight, who then jumps in at the last minute to knock out a guy who had already gotten the shit beat out of him, only to then start bragging about what a bad ass he was. That’s pretty much how it happened, though of course the real world is a lot messier than analogies. Though casualties were low compared to other countries, America did lose some 117,000 soldiers in the trenches, with an additional 204,000 wounded. The rest of the newly created army was returned to civilian life, where they were free to find jobs, start families, and desperately pretend that they hadn’t seen some pretty fucked up shit. In thanks for their service, Uncle Sam gave each a hearty handshake and what amounted to $975 in today’s money.
The returning veterans were decidedly less than happy with this turn of events. Figuring they deserved a little more for risking their asses, they formed the American Legion to lobby the government. Congress, being exactly the way it has always been, got around to doing something about the problem six years later. In 1924, they passed a bill granting veterans a larger bonus for serving, which was then vetoed by President Coolidge, who though having never served in the military, felt that a person really couldn’t call themselves patriotic if they had to get paid to fight for their country. Luckily for the veterans, Congress decided that this was a bunch of bullshit and voted to override the veto, passing the bill into law. Under the new law, each veteran would get paid for each day they had served up to $8,950 in today’s money. However, given that paying off such bonuses would cost the government some $51.8 billion, the veterans wouldn’t receive them until 1945, when most would be around retirement age.
While not perfect, the veterans generally accepted this arrangement. That was, they did, until the collapse of the U.S. economy kicked off the Great Depression, putting thousands of veterans out of work. In desperate need of some cash to keep their damn families fed, the veterans began demanding that they get paid their bonuses immediately. Being rather nervous about a bunch of pissed off men with military training, Congress worked a little faster than normal, opening debate on a bill that would hand over the bonuses early in the summer of 1932. To show their support for the bill, some 11,000 out of work veterans, along with 26,000 of their family members, marched on Washington D.C. in what became known as the Bonus Army. When the bill failed to pass, the Bonus Army, rather mad about the whole thing, decided to stay in the capitol, building themselves a large hobo camp in the middle of the city.
Things pretty much stayed this way for the next month and a half, a situation that nobody was really happy with. President Hoover wasn’t happy because it was an election year, which though self-serving, made a lot of sense. The U.S. Army wasn’t happy because they were convinced that the Bonus Army was part of some kind of planned communist uprising, which made absolutely no sense. Regardless, the Army convinced Hoover that he needed to do something. Tiring of all the shenanigans, Hoover sent the city police to clear the Bonus Army out of their camp. It did not go well, what with the Bonus Army being made up of trained soldiers and all. The police panicked and shot two veterans, which resulted in a riot and the police having their asses handed to them. Hoover responded by sending in the infantry, cavalry (which was still a thing for some reason at the time), and several tanks. In the ensuing violence over 1,000 veterans and their family members were injured, but the camp was burned to the ground and the Bonus Army was dispersed. However, the whole debacle did little to help Hoover’s chances of reelection, and he was soundly beaten by Franklin Roosevelt that November. Though if we’re being honest, he probably didn’t have a chance either way.
In 1933, a second Bonus Army marched on Washington D.C. President Roosevelt responded by sending his wife to promise them that they’d all be found jobs. In 1936, Congress finally passed a bill allowing the veterans to get paid their bonuses early. Roosevelt, apparently wanting to be a bastard that day, vetoed it. Congress voted to override the veto and the veterans finally got paid. To make sure such bullshit didn't happen again, Congress passed the G.I. Bill in 1944, giving returning World War II soldiers tuition for school, low cost mortgages, low interest business loans, and one year of unemployment compensation.
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonus_marchers_05510_2004_001_a.gif