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Today in Jacksonville History: June 1, 1932

Florida Times-Union - 6/1/2019

June 01--The heaviest rain in 12 years had just begun."Nasty day, sergeant," the reporter said. "Think you'll get away?"The sergeant did not reply. It was a foolish question.The men stood in a tin-roof shed out of the rain, grim determination in each steely eye."We weren't slackers in '17, and we aren't slackers now!" another spat out.Maybe 50 were there, soldiers 14 forgotten years ago setting out on a last campaign."A detachment of World War veterans will leave Jacksonville tonight for Washington, D.C.," evenly said the man called Sergeant."Two or 200, we will go. As to how we shall go, there is nothing at present for publication."Sgt. J.W. MacLocklin, "the sort of man you'd like to have on your side," said the Jacksonville Journal, was leading Jacksonville's contingent of the Bonus Army seeking "adjusted compensation" for their service.From across the nation, veterans of the Allied Expeditionary Force surged toward the nation's capital."More than 150 veterans of Jacksonville have pledged themselves to go," wrote the Journal's Walter Marshall. "The men are on an oath to behave themselves. There will be no individual soliciting of handouts. No money, food or clothing will be asked for."The rain did not not let up. Now and then the snatch of a whistled tune or the fragment of some trench ditty would be heard above the drum of the rain.""Bad start means a good ending, boys!" shouted one man, and they were off.But it rained for several days, and then it got worse.In late July Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Army chief of staff, drove the Bonus Army from the capital.On that rainy night before they marched, the Jacksonville veterans tended to one last chore: They cast absentee ballots in the upcoming spring primaries. Also on June 1, 1932 - "The Depression, which has resulted in a grim battle against hunger, cold, want and despair, is not only a business, but an emotional depression," J. Arthur Flynn, field secretary of the Salvation Army, told the Kiwanis Club.- The newly seated Duval County Budget Commission trimmed $1 million from the county budget in its first report since being appointed by Gov. Doyle Carlton.- Anna Mary Lyncker of the 3500 block of Laura Street became the first woman transport pilot in the South and one of only 75 in the United States.Bill Foley was a Times-Union reporter, editor and columnist for more than 40 years. He's best known for his quirky columns about Jacksonville and Northeast Florida's history. He wrote this series of Millennium Moments columns in 1999 leading up to the year 2000. Foley died in 2001 at age 62.

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