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Bonus March — Part 1

79 pages · May 23, 2026 · Broad topic: General · Topic: Bonus March · 76 pages OCR'd
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r to use them and did not @o so. This attack finn 2 subsided. Thousand of persons vere attracted to the scene. The crovd of bonus marchore . assembled at this point increased to numbers estimated at 4000 to 6000. ‘ith the bystanders, the crowd increased to en estineted number of nearly 20,000. The situation became more strainca, end may of tho Ponus Army vere walking about with clubs and bricks in their hands, This continued until the middle of the afternoon, with conticuous telk ebout attacking the police and driving them out. Some lewfully inelinee veterans ettempted to calit others, but made no impression, Vinalty the mob of bonus marchers seein ettacked the Police with bricks, lumps of concrete, and iron bars, Two of tho bonus marchers ere ehet by police who hed been set upon end were in denger of their lives, The entire nob became hostile and riotous. It wos apperent that a pitched bettte on # large scale might start et any moment. Tractically the entire police force of the city were celled from their posts and assembled at this point, dut they were outnumbered 10 or 15 to 1. Notwi thstending the large number of irresponsible persons in the city, the rest of the city wes stripped of police protection, Many of the policemen hed been on Guty 611 nicht. It was obvious that the situation was entirely out of the control of the police, and that when darkness arrived appalling scenes of disorder vould follow, during which the rest of the city ould be without substantial police protection, except for a few scout cars, Meanwhile, as early es 12:50, Lieutenant Keck of the Metropolitan Police ané Aide to Generel Crosby, Commissioner of the District, reported to the Commissioners that in his opinion and in the opinion of the Assistant Superintendent of Police and tuo police inspectors, the situation was beyonce control, sng thet bloodshed could only be averted by the pras~ z ence of federad troops. Te Commissioners then stated’ that before celling for military aid they desired the opinion of Mejor Glassford, the Chief of ~: Police, Wajor Glassford statog that since laters, the Cormatdar of the. ~ Bonus Army, hed lost contrel of his own mea, the police could not control the situstion any longer. iMajor Glassford, accompunied ty Liautenent.~ Keck, went to the office of the District Commissioners at 1:00 P. °. "In Response to Suestious by the District Commissioners he steted that the Situotion was out of his control ané thet the police could no longer hold the bonus marehors in check, He gas asked the direct question whether he thought it was necessary to secure tha assistonce of federel troops, to which he replied in the affirmative, he Commissioners then notified the Chief of Staff of the army thet the sesistance of troops would be needed snd requested that the necessary preparations might Le made. Before esking for military assistance, Commissioners Reichelderfer end Crosby : themselves then visited the eres “here the serious situation was eprerent, After their raturn to the District Building it was reported to them that further rioting had broken out end that s bonus marcher had been killed, Then it was decided to dispatch a communication to the President request~ ing the essistence of federal troops to preserve lew and orier. 4 state. nent from the District Commissioners respecting this matter, dated August 2, 1952, is uttached and marked Exhibit *c", From this time until the troops errived the situation steedily grew worse. There ie he difference of opinion bout the fact that the presence of troops was Recessury to and did prevent further disorder and bloodshed, In their absence, further rioting would have occurred with further dlood- shed among bonus marchers and police, and possibly innocent bystenders, The troops errived and, with the use at practically no vespons except teur jes, restored order and cleared” tho arca sad put en eng to the disturbance, 5. Casualties Bo Sasueitios. Two bonus “archers were killed in tho aisturbanco, They were shot by police in solf defonac, not by troops, A full investieaticn by a coroner's Jury establi od that the police shot in no. essary.sclf- defenso to ar v themselves from threatened fatnl injury. After the troops erriv:d, no serious injuries to enyone followed, 4 faw of the troops wore stoned end slightly injured, ond ono bonus mercher had his Cte Cut, but no other crsueltics rere suffered efter the troons crme. Storics published in some querters thnt the troops shot or scripusly injar’d bonus mirchers wre utterly without foundetion. the published poporte tht «n defeat child of e bonus mrcher n-med Myors ated ee nr result of terr gra cre friso. records ©t the Grllinger Hospitr2 . . Show thet the child died of tntestinrl trouble contracted rha dingnosed 4 before the riot.
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