Bonus Prize, Bonus Money, Bonus Version all sound like great things to you don't they. That's also what the Bonus Army on Windley Key thought. The Great Depression left many Americans, especially World War 1 Veterans, without jobs and starving. This left 45,000 war veterans and their families in 1932 to rally in Washington D.C. All wanting a cash bonus that was promised to them by Congress for their service in the war.
An Image of the Crowd from the Rally.
In 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt instead offered jobs with the Civilian Conservation Corps. 800 of the men were brought to the Islamorada area that we explored today to construct a new road parallel to the Overseas Railroad. The first of three camps was set up at Windley Key.
This alternate bonus was soon found out to not be as nice as they had hoped. Camps were overcrowded and unsanitary and often one water dipper was to serve 425 men. Which simply wasn’t enough for the work they were doing. Petitions and telegrams failed to seek change in improvements and the worst was yet to come.
A storm of the century known took place on Labor Day on September 2, 1935. The Florida Keys were hit with wins reaching up to 200 mph and an 18ft storm surge. Sadly this storm took Windley Key and the Islamorada villages and decimated everything that stood in its way. This also resulted in the loss of over 250 Bonus Army veterans to the storm. To find out about the Bonus Army involvement in Islamorada click here.
After this sad tragedy Congress overruled Roosevelt’s veto in 1936 and gave these men the bonus they were promised nine years earlier. That wasn’t the only good thing that finally came to these men. In 1944 Congress passed the GI Bill of Rights improving the lives of the Bonus Army greatly. The GI Bill of Rights gave services and benefits to troops who served and have returned home since the majority came back jobless. To learn more about the GI Bill of Rights click here to learn more about it.
Hello, I thought that this section in the visitors center was interesting and it is always cool to learn a little bit of history. I still do think that what happened to these Veterans was sad. I think that these people should be treated way better. This blog is just crazy because the Great Depression literally harmed everyone. It was so sad and I am glad things we're able to kind of work out. I really hope another Great Depression does not happen.
ReplyDeleteI remember briefly reading about this at the visitors center although we didn't have much time left, and its truly tragic to hear about it in more detail. the conditions of the quarry seemed more like a POW or a labor camp which is ironic for the veterans of WWI, as many of them had recently escaped those very conditions. At least in the end after the storm incident, the workers got what they deserved.
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