https://mallhistory.org/files/original/4bdfed07a15909cd58f4c4d1764599e5.jpg 8fe640ab34711b6688438b011339453f People An individual, biographical data, birth and death, etc. Birth Date 1898 Birthplace Burns, Oregon Death Date 1959 Occupation Activist Biographical Text Walter W. Waters was born in Oregon in 1898. In 1916, he joined the Idaho National Guard and was deployed to Mexico to hunt for the revolutionary Pancho Villa. At the end of his enlistment in 1917, he joined the Oregon National Guard and deployed to France to fight in World War I. He received an honorable discharge, returning home in June 1919. <br /><br />Waters was part of the last group of veterans to return from Europe following the war and, like many of his fellow soldiers, he had a hard time readjusting to civilian life. During the 1920s, he moved around the north western United States working at various jobs. As he traveled, he met other veterans who were also having trouble finding or keeping work. <br /><br />In 1932, Waters organized his fellow unemployed veterans in a march from Washington State to Washington, DC. The group, called the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/169">Bonus Expeditionary Force, or the Bonus Army</a>, demanded that Congress authorize immediate payment of bonuses due to veterans which were not scheduled to be paid until 1945. Waters and the veterans set up camps along the Anacostia and near the Capitol while the Senate debated a bill which would give them their bonuses. The bill was defeated and the Bonus Army was evicted from the city. <br /><br />Waters wrote a book about his experience with the Bonus Army, <em>B.E.F.: The Whole Story of the Bonus Army</em>, published in 1933. He enlisted in the Navy and fought in World War II. He died in Washington State in 1959. First Name for nav purposes Walter W. Last Name for nav purposes Waters Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Walter W. Waters Description An account of the resource In May 1932, Walter W. Waters, a World War I veteran, led a group of his fellow veterans to Washington, DC, to demand immediate payment of bonuses which were not due to be paid to the soldiers until 1945. This group was dubbed the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/169">Bonus Expeditionary Forces, or the Bonus Army</a>. During their time in Washington, as they camped on the Mall and on the banks of the Anacostia River, Waters acted as their leader and spokesman. The <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/407">Bonus Army</a> was <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/106">evicted</a> from the city in July. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1920-1949 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived General Douglas MacArthur Foundation, Norfolk, Virginia. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Walter W. Waters military history politics & protest