The+Bonus+Army

The Bonus Expeditionary Force was a group of 43,000 marchers. This group had 17,000 WWI vets, their families, and other groups involved. They protested in Washington, D.C. Called the Bonus March by the news media, the marchers were more popularly known as the Bonus Army. This march was led by Walter W. Waters, a former Army sergeant. The vets demanded immediate cash payment for their service certificates. Many of the war vets had been out of work since the beginning of the Great Depression. Each service certificate had a value equal to the soldier's promised payment plus interest. The problem was that the certificates, like bonds, matured twenty years from the date of original issuance. So under extent of law they couldn't be redeemed until 1945.