The 1930s: Challenging Times
This year’s installment provides some historical background
and highlights of important issues and events that affected
disabled veterans and their families during the 1930s. The
Great Depression and an often hostile political climate made
the DAV’s second
challenging.
decade
of
service
one
of
our
most
During one of America’s most daunting times the government
turned its back on veterans as the nation plunged into the
Great Depression at the start of the 1930s.
The Disabled American Veterans of the World War, as the
organization was first known,
decade to secure the well-being
these efforts were troubled by
desire of the public to put the
continued working through the
of disabled veterans; although
fundraising challenges and the
war behind them.
While the DAVWW sought ways to raise monies to continue
serving its membership, many wondered if the nation would
survive. Although the United States had little history of
massive social upheaval or coup attempts against the
government, hunger has an ominous way of stirring those
passions among any population. As bread riots and shantytowns
grew in number, many began to seek alternatives to the status
quo. Demonstrations in the nation’s capital increased as
Americans grew ever more weary with President Hoover’s
perceived inaction. The demonstration that drew the most
national attention was the Bonus Army March of 1932.
President Hoover
Back in 1924, Congress “rewarded” World War I veterans with
certificates redeemable for $1,000 each. By 1932, many of
these veterans had lost their jobs and fortunes in the early
days of the Depression. High unemployment also created a tax
revenue problem for the government. As revenue became scarce,
a crisis developed with regard to the $2.4 billion Bonus Bill.
A “Bonus Army” of some 20,000 unemployed veterans hopped
freight trains, drove and hiked from every corner of the
country to set up camp in Washington within view of the
Capitol building, vowing to stay until Congress passed a bill
providing full and immediate payment of their bonus
certificates. But on June 17 the Senate voted down the bill,
known as the Patman Resolution.
Although President Hoover refused to address the veterans, a
congressional delegation agreed to hear them out. Soon a
debate began in the Congress over whether to meet the
demonstrators’ demands.
As deliberations continued on Capitol Hill, the Bonus Army
built a shantytown across the Potomac River in Anacostia—just
a few miles from where the DAV’s National Service and
Legislative Headquarters now sits. When the Senate rejected
their demands, most of the veterans disappointedThe Bonus Army
reportedly behaved well and spent their vigil unarmed.
But with a growing belief that the veterans posed a threat to
national security, an order was given on July 28 to clear the
demonstrators out of the capital.
In the shadow of the U.S. Capitol and with President Hoover
watching through a window in the White House, U.S. soldiers
beat veterans and burned their camp. Two men were killed as
tear gas and bayonets assailed the Bonus Marchers. An Army
regiment was sent into the city, under the leadership of
General Douglas MacArthur, complete with infantry, cavalry and
six tanks. MacArthur then ordered the shanty settlements and
the veterans’ belongings burned.
An estimated 20 percent of the Bonus Marchers were disabled
veterans.
Corbly
As Hoover campaigned for reelection that summer, his actions
turned an already sour public opinion of him even further
bottomward. He was defeated in the 1932 election by Franklin
D. Roosevelt in a landslide. But FDR also opposed the bonus
demands.
A second, smaller Bonus March in 1933 was defused with
promises instead of military action. President Roosevelt
provided the marchers with a campsite in Virginia and provided
them three meals a day. Roosevelt arranged for his wife,
Eleanor, to visit the site unaccompanied. She broke bread with
the veterans and listened to them perform songs. She
reminisced about her memories of seeing troops off to World
War I and welcoming them home. The most she could offer was a
promise of positions in the newly created Civilian
Conservation Corps (CCC).
“Hoover sent the Army, Roosevelt sent his wife,” a veteran was
quoted telling the Washington Post. In a press conference
following her visit, the First Lady described her reception as
courteous and praised the marchers, highlighting how
comfortable she felt despite critics of the marchers who
described them as Communists and criminals.
President Roosevelt later issued an executive order allowing
the enrollment of 25,000 veterans in the CCC, exempting them
from the normal requirement that applicants be unmarried and
under the age of 25.
Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act in 1936
authorizing the immediate payment of the World War I bonuses.
President Roosevelt vetoed it, but Congress overrode the veto
and finally paid the veterans.
As the nation struggled to survive, the DAVWW’s recently
established Service Fund Committee studied the possibility of
creating a new trust fund. The National Organization could
then use principal and interest from this fund from time to
time, as needed, to maintain its nationwide service and
legislative programs. But the Service Fund Committee found
difficulties during its first couple of years maintaining
continuity of policy and personnel. For that reason, the
National Executive Committee provided the authority to form
“an incorporated board of trustees and to have the DAVWW enter
into a trust agreement with such incorporated board of
trustees.”
In 1931, the Disabled American Veterans Service Foundation was
born, the forerunner of the organization we know today as the
DAV National Service Foundation. Its first board of directors
included Herman H. Weimer, Millard W. Rice, Crab Corbly,
William Tate and Paul M. Millikin.
At the time, the Foundation was the fundraising arm of the
National Organization and its Chapters. It no longer fulfills
such a comprehensive role, but its official mission remains
developing financial resources in support of the goals and
purpose of the DAV.
Contributions to the National Service Foundation strengthened
our service programs in many ways while helping to ensure the
future of those programs.
At the height of the Depression, the National Economy League
was formed, which proved to be detrimental to the DAVWW.
Featuring many prominent citizens in its leadership, the
League was influential in Washington and received very
favorable coverage in the media as it fought against instances
of what it saw as “excessive spending.”
Despite the efforts of the DAVWW and other veterans’ groups,
the National Economy League’s questionable statistics and
tactics swayed the American public and both political parties.
DAVWW National Commander William Conley and other veterans’
leaders were angry. American Legion spokesman John Thomas
Taylor charged that the League was running a “cunning and
canny campaign of misrepresentation.”
Immediately
after
his
inauguration
in
1933,
President
Roosevelt declared a national bank holiday and called for a
special session of Congress. In fewer than eight hours,
emergency legislation addressing the banking crisis was rammed
through the U. S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
President Roosevelt quickly submitted the next item on his
agenda, a bill demanding reduction of government expenses,
including cutting veterans’ pensions. President Roosevelt
imposed the Economy Act of 1933, which cut veterans’
disability allowances by 25 percent.
President Roosevelt continued his economy program. Some
disabled veterans, who had been supporting their families on
$60 to $80 a month, were told through the mail they were no
longer eligible for funds and were cut off. Thus, the New Deal
became a raw deal for many disabled veterans.
The DAVWW went on the offensive, gaining the
Congressman A.L. Bulwinkle to lead the fight.
to DAVWW leaders across country, urging them to
their members of Congress. The Bulwinkle motion
took until 1948 to win back what the Economy
away.
assistance of
Telegrams went
seek help from
passed, but it
Act had taken
While the chaos surrounding the Bonus Bill and the Economy
League occupied the newspapers, Congress recognized the
DAVWW’s unique and outstanding service on June 17, 1932,
issuing a federal charter to the organization.
“This document recognized the organization as the official
voice of the nation’s wartime disabled veterans,” said
National Adjutant Arthur H. Wilson. “The Depression was a
horrible experience for the nation, but it did help disabled
veterans realize that they needed the DAV.”
Gen. Douglas MacArthur,
center, and Col. Dwight
D. Eisenhower, right,
were assigned the task of
breaking up the Bonus
Army.
The DAVWW’s membership stood stable at 42,500 by the time the
delegates gathered for the 1939 National Convention where
Lewis J. Murphy was elected Commander. During Murphy’s
administration, the DAVWW initiated what was to become the
foundation of the organization’s membership stability and
growth—the Life Membership Program. Under this plan, members
who invested $100 had the cost of their dues covered for the
rest of their lives.
The Great Depression had a traumatic effect worldwide. In
response, authoritarian regimes emerged in several countries
in Europe, in particular the Third Reich in Germany. Weaker
states such as Ethiopia, China and Poland were invaded by
expansionist world powers.
As events leading to World War II took shape, a new Selective
Training and Service Bill was brought before Congress, calling
for the first peacetime draft in the nation’s history. Once
again, the country was preparing for war, and it wasn’t long
before the DAVWW began to prepare for the inevitable human
costs.