In the summer of 1932, 20,000 World War I veterans and their families set up camp along the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C.

This was close to Capitol Hill.

And they were angry. Because when these soldiers returned home from a war that ended in 1918, they were promised a cash bonus for their service.

But there was a catch. The bonus wouldn't be paid until 1945. In the meantime, the Great

Depression had struck the United States. Millions of people were out of work and hungry,

including these desperate veterans of the war.

The plight of these vets was summed up in the lyrics of a song called The Forgotten Man

from a 1933 Busby Berkeley musical.

Remember my forgotten man?

You put a rifle in his hand.

You sent him far away. You shouted, Hip-O-ray. But look at him today.

These men did feel forgotten and they were inspired by an out-of-work

former Army Sergeant named Walter W Waters. And on March 15th,

1932, Waters had stood up at a veterans meeting in Portland, Oregon.

He called for every vet to get on a freight train to Washington to claim the money that was rightfully his. Eventually,

water's message spread and the soldiers did go to Washington by freight train,

hitchhiking, and walking. And they called themselves the Bonus Army.

And in the summer of 1932, the members of the Bonus Army found themselves camped out in

Washington, D.C. They lived in homemade shelters they cobbled together from scrap metal,

packing boxes, and abandoned lumber. But if their shelters were a mess, the

camps were highly organized. The vets distributed meals, built toilets, registered members, and they even had daily parades.

Now the Bonus Army was hoping for the passage of a bill that would move up the timing of their promised payments.

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