And when I go to Heaven
St Peter I will tell
Another Marine reporting, Sir
I’ve served my time in hell
Amen to that.
Condolences to Carolyn Stewart and Donald Morris Walker’s remaining family and friends.
Walker, born April 16, 1931, lived in the Parkland area of Louisville. He attended a black Catholic high school, where he was quiet and self-assured, according to friend Robert Buckner, 75, of Louisville.
Walker joined the Naval Reserve in 1949 on “a whim,” Buckner said. When Walker, Buckner and another friend, Charles Jarrett, decided to enter the Navy full time in March 1950, only Buckner passed the test.
“They decided to go to the Marine recruiting office instead. I went with them. The guy said, ‘You may as well take it too,’ and I did. We all passed, and we all decided to enter the Marines,” Buckner said.
After basic training at Parris Island, S.C., they were shipped to California and soon to Korea, where the conflict was just taking shape.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Within months, that decision would place the 19-year-old in the frozen hell of the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, where outnumbered U.S. Marines and soldiers faced a Chinese onslaught in one of the war’s bloodiest battles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buckner, who went on to serve nearly 21 years in the military and returned to Louisville after retiring in 1971, was also relieved. He said he believes the identification “will lift the burden of years of wondering.”
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071009/NEWS01/710090385/1008/rss01