◆ SpookStack

Declassified Document Archive & Reader
Log In Register
Reader Ad Slot
Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.

Bonus March — Part 1

79 pages · May 09, 2026 · Broad topic: General · Topic: Bonus March · 76 pages OCR'd
← Back to feed
al re to usé them and did not do so. This attack finely subsided. Thousané . of persons were attracted to the scene. The crovd of bonus marchers assembled at this point increase? to numbers estimated at 4000 to 6000. With the bystanders, the srowd increased to an @stinated number of nearly 20,000. The situation became more strained, and meny of the Bonus Army were walking about with clubs and bricks in their hands, This continued until the middle of the afternoon, with continuons teik about attacking the police and driving them out. Some lewfully inelined veterans ettempted to eslit others, but made no impression, Finally the mob of bonus marchers seein ettacked the police with bricks, lumps of concrete, and iron bars, Two of tho bonus marchers vere shot by police who hed been set upon end were in danger of their lives. The entire mob became hostile snd riotous. it Was apparent that a pitched kettle on a large scale might start et any moment. Tractically the entire police force of the city were enlled from their pests and assembled at this point, but they were outnumbered 10 or 15 tol. Notwithstanding the large number of irreaponsible persons in the City, the rest of the city Was stripped of police protection, Many of the policemen had been on duty all night. It was obvious that the Situation was entirely out of the control of the polica, and that when darkness arrived appelling scenes of disorder would follow, during which the rest of the city would be without substoatial police protection, except for a few scout cars, Meanwhile, as early as 12:20, Lieutenant Keck of the ite tropoli tan 3 Police ené Aide to Generel Cresby, Commissioner of the District, reported : to the Commissioners that in his opinion and in the opinion of the ASSistant Superintendent of Police and tye police inspectors, the situation Was beyone control, ané that bloodshed could only be averted by the pras~ re ence of federal troops. Tle Commissioners then stated’ that before calling . for military aid they desired the opinion of Major Glassferd, the Chief of —. oe Police. Major Glassford steteg that since Jeters, the Commandar of the mF Banus Army, had lost eontrel of his owh ten, the nolice could not contrel | the situation any longer. Major Glassford, accompanied ty Lieutenant.+ . Keck, went to the office of the District Commissioners at 1:00 P.M. ‘Ig response te Cuestions by the District Commissioners he stated that the Situation was out of his control and thet the police could no longer hold the bonus marchers in cheek. He vas asked the direct quastion whether ha thought it was hesessary to secure the assistance of federal troops, to which he replied in the affirmative, The Commissioners then notified the Chier of Staff of the Army thet the assistance of troops would be needed . and requested that the necessary preparations might be made. Hefore \ asking for military assistance, Commissioners Reichelderfer ana Cresby : themselves then visiteda the area vhere the serious situation Was apparent, é After their raturn te the District Building it was reported to them that . further rioting had broken out end that a bonus marcher had been killed, Then it was decided to dispatch on commnication ta the President request~ ing the assistance of federal troops to preserve lew and order. 4 state+ ment from the District Commissioners respecting this matter, dated August 2, 19532, is attached ana marked Exhibit "c", from this time until the troops arrived the situation steadily grew worse. There ig no difference of Opinion ebout the fact that the presence of troops WAS necéssary to and did prevent further disorder ang bloodshed, In their absence, further rioting would have oceurred with further dlood- shed among bonus marchers and police, and possibly innoeent bystanders, wee The troops arrived and, with the use af practically no “papons except tear fas, restored order and cleared’ the arose aad put en end to the disturbanee, . 5. Gasusities, Ses tes. Two bonus narchers were killed in the disturbances, They were shot by police in self defense, not by troops. A full investiesticn by a coroner's jury estublished that the police shet in necessary. sclfe defcnso to srvyg themselvas from threatoned fatnt injury, Aftor the treeps arrived, no serious injuries to anyone followed, A fav ot the treops werc stoned and slightly injured, ond one bonus mercher had his cor cut, but no other crsuelticas vere suffered efter tha troops Crna. Storics publishea in Some Guerters thet the treops shot or seripusly injured bonus wirehers ere utterly without foundation. The published Feporte thrt «<n infrnt child of a bonus mercher nomed Myors died as n result of terr ena ore frise. The recerds -:t the Gr linger Hospitr2 .. show thet the child dica of intestin-l trouble contracted rnd dingiosod .- , before the riot. . ,
OCR quality for this page
Community corrections
First editor: none yet Last editor: none yet
No user corrections yet.
Comments
Document-wide discussion. Follow the Community Standards.
No comments on this document yet.
Bottom Reader Ad Slot
Bottom Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.

Continue Exploring

Use the strongest next step for this document: continue reading, jump to the topic hub, or move into the matching agency collection.
Continue Reading at Page 11
Jump straight to page 11 of 79.
Reader
Bonus March — Part 3
Stay inside Bonus March with another closely related document.
Topic
FBI Documents & FOIA Archive
Open the FBI agency landing page for stronger archive context.
FBI
Bonus March Topic Hub
See the topic overview, related documents, and linked subtopics.
Hub

Agency Collection

This document also belongs in the FBI Documents & FOIA Archive landing page, which is the stronger starting point for agency-level browsing and for searches focused on FBI records.
FBI Documents & FOIA Archive
Open the agency landing page for introduction text, topic links, and more FBI documents.
FBI

Explore This Archive Cluster

This document belongs to the General archive hub and the more specific Bonus March topic page. Use these hub pages when you want the broader collection context, linked subtopics, and more documents around the same archive thread.
letter bureau
Related subtopics
John Murtha
57 documents · 1471 known pages
Subtopic
Sen Joseph Joe Mccarthy
42 documents · 2653 known pages
Subtopic
D B Cooper
41 documents · 13789 known pages
Subtopic
Kansas City Massacre
38 documents · 5300 known pages
Subtopic
Black Panther Party
36 documents · 3066 known pages
Subtopic
Malcolm X
36 documents · 3932 known pages
Subtopic