- Date:
- July 29, 1932
- Original Format:
- Photographic Print
- Item#:
- 1930.0097
Bonus Army Protest
Bonus Army demonstrators are dispersed by armed guards and tear gas on July 29, 1932. The so-called Bonus Expeditionary Force, made up if some 15,000 veterans and their families, had staged a protest in Washington in hopes of gaining their payment of World War I bonuses. Though almost all of the marchers were legitimate veterans, General Douglas MacArthur was convinced that at least 90% of them were fakes. And he refused even to read the President's direct orders that he not use force.