The Veteran character in COSACOSA's Spare A Dime was a soldier in World War I and a member of the Bonus Army expedition occupying Washington, D.C. at the start of the Great Depression.  Several weeks ago we did a comprehensive series of posts about the Bonus Army, how their camp was dismantled and burned by President Hoover, General MacArthur, and then-Major Patton (the last two our hero generals of WWII) in a sad and stunning (and now nearly forgotten) betrayal of those who had served the nation.

Our character's story is grounded in these episodes, and in the first half of the song cycle, he sings Hand to Hand, a rousing George M. Cohan-esque number reframing the story of the Bonus Army in terms of American idealism and The Veteran's hopes for the nation -- and himself.  As one unemployed veteran of America's 21st century wars told us, "Service and duty made me join the Army; those are the same values I want for my life now that I'm a civilian again."

Like many of the veterans of the Bonus Army campaign, our character joined the specially created Civilian Conservation Corps units created by FDR to provide work for jobless WWI vets.  In the second half of Spare A Dime, The Veteran sings Citizen Conservation, wittily imparting insights from his experiences at war and at peace, while honoring nature and his new life of service.  What wisdom will he share?  Come to the World Premiere of Spare A Dime at PIFA 13 and find out!

Tomorrow's post is our weekly "this week in 1935" feature; a thrifty recipe from the 1930s will follow on Menu Monday.  Mid-next week, our Spare A Dime character profiles continue with The Immigrant!

Even after President Hoover used brute force to evict the Bonus Army from their camp (see Parts 1 and 2 posted earlier this week), the WWI veterans remained vigilant in their demands.  At the end of 1932, after Franklin Roosevelt was elected President, a second, smaller Bonus Army expedition was organized for the spring (see flyer at left) to once again occupy Washington and lobby Congress for their promised pay. 

The second Bonus Army arrived in D.C. in May of 1933.  This time around, their experience was quite different.  FDR gave them tents, latrines, showers and had mess halls prepare food for them at an old Army post in Fort Hunt, Virginia.  The Bonus veterans received medical and dental care, as well.   Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR's wife, spent time in the camp unaccompanied by Secret Service (see image below).  The veterans loved her.  A much repeated saying at the time was "Hoover sent the Army.  Roosevelt sent his wife."

The President, however, did not favor early payment of the WWI bonus, and, indeed, Congress denied the bill a second time.  FDR  did propose an alternative (through Eleanor), however; he offered all veterans jobs with the newly created Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).  Typically only men 17 to 23 years old were able to enroll; most of the Bonus Army vets were in their 40's.  Thousands of the Bonus marchers took FDR up on the offer.  Those who decided not to work with the CCC were given transportation home. 

By 1936, with the country's hopes on the rise and the New Deal a way of life, Congress finally passed a bill authorizing payment of the deferred WWI bonuses.  Years later, the G.I. Bill of Rights was inspired by the determination of the Bonus Army. 

As for our Spare A Dime veteran, he joined the CCC!  We'll explore his experience tomorrow!

In 1932, the Senate denied WWI veterans early payment of the overseas bonus they had been promised (see Part 1, yesterday's post).  The Hoover administration the assumed these "Bonus Army" soldiers would take down their "Hooverville" shanty-town and go away. 

But the Bonus marchers were far more determined than that.  Although some veterans did leave, many others stayed with the intention to lobby again for their money in the next session of Congress.  Hooverville had become their home, and many of the marchers were better able to provide for their families in the camp than they had in their hometowns.  Over a month after being refused their pay, the Bonus Army marchers still occupied Washington.

In late July, a month after the Senate's decision, President Hoover asked the D.C. police to evict the veterans.  The marchers resisted, and police fired into the crowd.  Two veterans were wounded and later died.  Hoover called in the Army, led, ironically, by two generals who we think of as WWII heros:  MacArthur and Patton.  The generals bore down on the camp with infantry, calvalry, and six tanks.

At first the veterans thought these current soldiers were holding a parade in support of the Bonus Army cause.  Then the calvary drew their sabres; the infantry pointed their bayonets and shot tear gas at the veterans, their wives and childen, alike.  MacArthur's troops burned all the shanties to the ground (see the image above with the Washington Monument in the background), chasing the jobless -- and now homeless and possessionless -- families across the Anacostia River, even after Hoover had asked the general to pull back.

Images of the tanks, the guns, the sabres, the tear gas, and the enormous fire spread across the country.  People could not believe that Hoover and  MacArthur used force against the once-lauded troops who had won "the war to end all wars" for America.

Check back tomorrow to see what ultimately happened to the Bonus Army (and our Spare A Dime veteran)!

One of the characters in Spare A Dime is a veteran of World War I who participated in the Bonus Army march.  Here's the back story:

In 1918, American veterans returning home from WWI were promised a cash bonus for their service abroad.  There was just one catch:  the bonus would not be payable for 27 years, until 1945.

Just over a decade later, as Great Depression unemployment was at its peak, thousands of these veterans were among the jobless and desperately needed help. In Oregon, a group of veterans had the idea to go to Washington, D.C. and ask Congress to pay their bonus early.  It was 1932, a year before FDR would be elected; Herbert Hoover was still President.  Armed with an American flag and a bugle, they pronounced themselves the Bonus Army, and hopped onto freight trains heading east.  As they traveled, they were joined by other veterans, and soon the press picked up the story.  News of the Bonus Army's "march" quickly spread, and veterans from every corner of the nation began to converge on the capital with their families in tow.  Soon over 20,000 of these former soldiers had arrived to lobby Congress to pay the bonus.

The Bonus Army set up tent cities in vacant lots, and built a shanty-town (or "Hooverville" as they were mockingly called) along the Anacostia River out of any materials they could find: wood, cardboard, tin, car parts, and chicken coops.  It was the biggest Hooverville in the country.  The veterans organized the encampment as a city within a city;  it had a library, post office, barbershop, and newspaper, and streets named after the 48 states.  The encampment had strict rules, as well (no alcohol, fighting, or panhandling), and no avowed communists were allowed.  The marchers wanted to affirm the same military rules and American values they had as active soldiers.

Public support of and fascination with the Bonus Army brought ample food and other necessary supplies to the camp.  Local city residents would talk with the soldiers and be entertained by the impromptu musical groups that formed in the camp.  A retired Marine Corps general visiting the marchers exclaimed "Take it from me, this is the greatest demonstration of Americanism we have ever had. Pure Americanism. Don't make any mistake about it: You've got the sympathy of the American people."

On June 15, 1932, less than a month after the Bonus Army occupied Washington, the House passed a bill to pay the bonus. The encampment was ecstatic, but not for long -- the Senate denied the bill and ended their session for the summer.  What would the Bonus Army marchers do?  Find out tomorrow in Part 2!