Sergeant First Class Watters was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on 9 September 1950 and returned to duty on 22 September 1950. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy near Kunu-ri, North Korea, on 29 November 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Watters was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.