Aerial Photograph of Bonus Army, Camp Marks, Washington, DC

This photograph shows a “Bonus Army” encampment on the Anacostia flats in Washington, DC, in 1932. The group, made up of thousands of World War I veterans calling themselves the Bonus Expeditionary Force (BEF), came to Washington to demonstrate for immediate payment of a bonus promised to them by the Government eight years earlier. After Congress failed to pass legislation allowing the payout, the Government ordered protesters home. Police tried to clear the marchers but were unsuccessful. The military took over under the command of Douglas MacArthur. Violence ensued, with the military using gas grenades and burning down shanties lining the streets.