WALTER W. WATERS

The WWI veterans lobby was formed and they pressured Congress into authorizing a bonus of between $1 and $1.25 for each day of wartime service. However, the catch was that they would not be paid until 1945 unless they did, Hence the name for the bonus. The Bonus March on Washington would eventually march on Washington to get their pay while they were still alive. Finally, the bonuses were paid immediately after Franklin Delano Roosevelt assumed the Presidency even though he personally opposed paying it early. Congress passed the law over his veto.

He was the leader if the WWI Veteran Bonus Marchers who, in the midst of the Great Depression, had set up a shanty town in Washington DC to protests their not being aid the Bonus that Congress had voted for in 1924, He was testifying before a House Committee in the midst of the Bonus March.

In 1924 Congress voted a bonus to all veterans but refused to pay it until 1945. With the privation of the Depression, 15,000 poverty stricken veterans marched on Washington, and set up camps. The Army, under General Douglas MacArthur with George Patton leading the Calvary, attacked the protesters camp and burned them out injuring many. President Hoover got the blame but MacArther did not obey Hoover’s orders not to cross the bridge to the camp. He was in character as was his aide Major Dwight D. Eisenhower who tried to dissuade MacArthur from attacking to no avail.

In 1924 Congress voted a bonus to all veterans but refused to pay it until 1945. With the privation of the Depression, 15,000 poverty stricken veterans marched on Washington, and set up camps. The Army, under General Douglas MacArthur with George Patton leading the Calvary, attacked the protesters camp and burned them out injuring many. President Hoover got the blame but MacArther did not obey Hoover’s orders not to cross the bridge to the camp. He was in character as was his aide Major Dwight D. Eisenhower who tried to dissuade MacArthur from attacking to no avail.

The WWI veterans lobby was formed and they pressured Congress into authorizing a bonus of between $1 and $1.25 for each day of wartime service. However, the catch was that they would not be paid until 1945 unless they did, Hence the name for the bonus. The Bonus March on Washington would eventually march on Washington to get their pay while they were still alive. Finally, the bonuses were paid immediately after Franklin Delano Roosevelt assumed the Presidency even though he personally opposed paying it early. Congress passed the law over his veto.

He was the leader if the WWI Veteran Bonus Marchers who, in the midst of the Great Depression, had set up a shanty town in Washington DC to protests their not being aid the Bonus that Congress had voted for in 1924, He was testifying before a House Committee in the midst of the Bonus March.