Walter W. Waters of Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, was a former Army Sergeant in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 who, in May 1932, led the 20,000-strong army of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 veterans called the Bonus Army

Bonus Army

The Bonus Army was the popular name of an assemblage of some 43,000 marchers—17,000 World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups—who gathered in Washington, D.C., in the spring and summer of 1932 to demand immediate cash-payment redemption of their service certificates...

 on their march to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

. The veterans were seeking immediate payment of service certificates, essentially additional pay, promised to them by Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 in the World War Adjusted Compensation Act

World War Adjusted Compensation Act

The World War Adjusted Compensation Act, or Bonus Act, was a United States federal law passed on May 19, 1924, that granted a benefit to veterans of American military service in World War I.-Provisions:...

 of 1924 and scheduled for payment in 1945. The army camped in the suburb of Anacostia

Anacostia

Anacostia is a historic neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Its historic downtown is located at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue It is the most famous neighborhood in the Southeast quadrant of Washington, located east of the Anacostia River, after which the...

 where Waters made his remark, "We're here for the duration and we're not going to starve." Waters was forced to tell the veterans and their supporters that the Senate had defeated a bill to give the veterans their bonuses immediately. On July 28, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

government ordered the evacuation of the veterans from government property. Waters and the Bonus Army went home after being attacked by U.S. troops.

Waters wrote about his experiences in B.E.F. The Whole Truth about the Bonus Army (1933).