Walker, Walton Harris

Walker, Walton Harris (1889–1950) U.S. army officer. Born in Belton, Texas, Walton Walker attended Virginia Military Institute for a year before entering West Point. After graduating in 1912 with a commission in the infantry, he participated in the occupation of Veracruz before reporting to France in April 1918. He saw action in both the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives. After a series of postwar student and instructor assignments he took command of the 3rd Armored Division in January 1942. In September he took over the IV Armored Corps, and after it was redesignated the XX Corps it was ordered to England in early 1944. In July it landed in France as part of George S. Patton's Third Army, and it earned the nickname “the Ghost Corps” for the speed of its advances across France and Germany. Walker earned promotion to lieutenant general, and in June 1946 took over Fifth Army in Chicago. Two years later he was transferred to Japan to command Eighth Army under Gen. Douglas MacArthur's Far East Command. When the North Koreans attacked South Korea across the 38th Parallel in June 1950, Walker organized a delaying withdrawal with demoralized Republic of Korea forces and understrength American units. He adroitly defended the “Pusan perimeter” in the southeast corner of Korea in August and September, and then broke out after MacArthur's amphibious turning movement at Inchon. Walker drove deep into North Korea before his forces were surprised and pummeled by heavy Chinese attacks in late November. He again retreated south, and established a new defense line at roughly the 38th Parallel. On December 23 he was killed in a jeep accident.