GV man's father honored for WWII heroism

Like father, like son.

The saying is applicable to Fred L. Walker Jr., a World War II veteran and the son of a distinguished Army general who he fought alongside.

His father, the late Gen. Fred Livingood Walker, was honored in July at the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry in Austin. The general had led the Texas infantry during WWII and was Lt. Gen. of the Texas National Guard for several years after the war.

Walker Jr., a Green Valley resident since 1992, and retired from a 30-year career in the Army, was invited to speak last month at the symposium for his father’s induction into the museum’s Hall of Honor.

Along with his wife, Jean, two children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild, he flew to Texas to speak to a crowd of more than 200 university students and military history buffs. Many asked Walker Jr. to sign copies of his father’s book, “From Texas to Rome: A General’s Journal,” which detailed his experience driving the German army north through Italy.

“They think a lot of him down there in Texas, and he thought a lot of them,” said Walker Jr., 94. “He was inducted into the hall because his division performed some amazing operations just before Dad came home from the war.”

During the war, Walker commanded the 36th Texas Infantry Division, the first American troops to invade Europe when they landed at Salerno, Italy, in September 1943. Walker led the division through the battles of the Rapido River, Cassino and Mt. Artesmisio, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership.

“I was with him as he moved up through Italy,” he said. “Some of the combat was the heaviest, bloodiest combat in the war. We were fighting through mud and mountains in the wintertime.”

Rapid River controversy

The main topic of his lecture at Austin was the controversial two-day battle at the Rapido River, which resulted in heavy casualties for the division; more than 2,000 men were taken prisoner, wounded or killed.

Reports at the time implied that the 36th Infantry was at fault for the loss, but that wasn’t the case, Walker Jr. said. His father had tried to persuade his superior, Fifth Army commander Lt. Mark Clark, that his division lacked the time, preparation and aquatic equipment needed to take on the German army’s final defense line along the muddy banks of the swift-moving river, which was heavily mined. But Clark ordered the attack despite protests from Walker and other generals.

“In my opinion, it was a total mistake to attack there,” said Walker Jr, who called the battle a “tragic loss.” “We were the only unit in the 5th Army attacking that area, and German artillery from the ocean up to Cassino Monastery could be concentrated at our single attack across the river.”

Though Walker Jr. wasn’t with his father at Rapido — at the time, he was a Lt. Colonel and Assistant Chief of Staff for G-3 , the office in charge of operations and training for the 36th Infantry — his men ironically wrote out and delivered the orders for the Rapido River attack his father was so strongly against.

After the war, veterans of the Texas infantry passed a resolution calling for a Congressional investigation of the Rapido battle, blaming Gen. Clark for the defeat and the significant human loss, but there was never a full-scale investigation.

Despite the failed attack, Walker was recognized for his efforts in driving the Germans out of Italy. His son says Gen. George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army during the war, “sent Dad a message congratulating him on the most brilliant breakthrough and pursuit operations in the war up until that time.”

Pearl Harbor morning

Walker Jr., a 1936 graduate of West Point, had an admirable career of his own, and was witness to one of the most infamous events of the war — the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Before he was transferred to his father’s division in 1942, he was a major in the 27th Infantry Division, stationed in Oahu. He says the morning of the attack was one he’ll never forget.

“I woke up at 7:30, and it was a beautiful, sunny morning with flowers hanging all over the bedroom windows. I figured it was time to get up, so I slapped my wife on the shoulder and said ‘rise and shine,’ and just then there was a big, loud explosion.”

He remembers Japanese dive bombers flying directly over their house in the military barracks. At first, most people thought they were witnessing some kind of practice maneuver, to “keep us on our toes,” he said.

He recalls children standing out in the street, watching the attack planes fly overhead.

“That’s how it went. I gave my wife a slap on the shoulder and then — bam — the war started, just like that.”

Walker Jr. retired from the Army in 1966 and has pursued many interests over the years, including painting, writing and especially the study of space science. He has written several articles for astrophysics and cosmology journals, and says he’d like to start a discussion group in Green Valley for those with similar interests.

“A lot of things have been happening in the last five years in cosmology,” said Walker Jr., who acknowledged with a smile that some of his ideas are “a little off the main track.”

He’d love to meet fellow enthusiasts who, like him, want to learn, discuss theory, and “start some trouble,” he said.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726