Linden+and+Nate

 Earl W. Walker is a World War II Veteran and was a part of the United States Navy, and Armed Guard (which was in charge of defending U.S. merchant ships). He enlisted on September 16, 1943, and his highest rank was a BT3(Boiler Tender). A boiler tender is a person who makes sure the boiler in the ship does not break or shut down because if it would, the ship would stop moving. He was also a gunner as well for a little while. After undergoing basic training, Earl Walker began his Naval career as a Boiler Technician, and in return for his commendable service received over 15 medals. Mr. Walker underwent basic training at Sampson Naval Training Base, in Sampson, New York. Over a period of three and one-half years, 411, 429 Naval Recruits went through training there, and Mr. Walker was one of them(Sampson Naval Training Base). After he finished basic training, Mr. Walker served from September 16, 1943 to 1947, and then from 1950 to 1954. During his time of service, he served as a Gunner, but mostly as a Boiler Tender. Mr. Walker served in the European African Middle Eastern Area, and the Asia Pacific Area. He was also on the aircraft carrier that took the planes over to the Philippines to help with the Normandy-Philippine Liberation. Mr. Walker was a Boiler Tender in the Navy so he was on important missions. Mr. Walker was assigned to and went on different ships, one of which was the U.S.S. Pierce. The U.S.S. Pierce went on a campaign that was called “Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto” that lasted from April 1st through April 5th 1945. (Priolo). He was also on the U.S.S. Wood, which operated in the Caribbean sea from April to June 1946. Then later in June the ship joined the Pacific Fleet in San Diego. In July the U.S.S. Wood left the fleet and headed to Hawaii (Siconolfi, Jeff. "USS William M. Wood." USS William M. Wood). He was also on a ship called the U.S.S. Oriskany which was sent over to Korea to help the U.N. forces. It carried an aircraft that helped disrupt enemy supply lines (U.S.S. Oriskany). Mr. Walker did a great job working on the ships with 30 years of service in the navy and earned many awards. Mr. Walker did many important things on the ships that he was assigned to and for that he got many medals. He was awarded the National Defense medal which is bronze and has the words “National Defense” engraved on the front. It was given to him because he helped defend America (Powers). He was also given the Army Commendation medal for serving in the military (The Institute of Heraldry). Another medal he has is The China Service medal and that was for serving in the marines when they went to China (“Leathernecks”). A fourth medal was the Presidential Service medal which was given for extraordinary heroism while serving in the Biak Islands in the South Pacific (“A Long Time Coming”). A fifth medal he received was the Korean Service medal which was awarded because he served in the armed forces of the United States when we occupied Korea (Naval History and Heritage). A sixth medal was the Navy Occupation Service medal which was created to honor the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard for their service in WW2 (Navy Occupation Service Medal). A seventh medal he acquired was the United Nations medal which was given to members of the peacekeeping force in the U.N. (United Nations Medals). An eighth medal he was awarded was the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign medal which was given to the members of the U.S. military who served in the American Theater (Usmilitarymedals). A ninth medal was the Army Good Conduct medal, for three years of honorable service (Usmilitarymedals). A tenth medal he got was the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign medal for serving in the geographical theater in the areas of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (Usmilitarymedals). An eleventh medal was called the American Campaign medal which was awarded to the people who served in the Marines between 1941-1946 (World War 2 Awards). These are just some of the numerous medals Earl received for his service. Earl Walker was a Boiler Tender on different ships; he was a very significant part of the Navy. He was on many campaigns that went around the world. He received many awards for his hard work and dedication.

Earl W Walker Born on July 29, 1926 World War II; Korean War; Navy and Armed Guard Highest Rank: BT3

Nate Hostetter(grandchild) and Linden Bennetch This interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.

 What were your parents’ jobs?
 * 1) What was your childhood like?
 * 2) How many siblings do you have?
 * 1) Do you have any other family members that served in the military?
 * 2) How did you enlist, and why did you enter the war?
 * 3) Why did you choose the Navy and the Armed Guard?
 * 4) When did you arrive at Sampson, New York for your basic training?
 * 5) What was your training like? What did you have to do? Did you have any specialized training?
 * 6)  How did you adapt to military life?
 * 7) Where did you serve?
 * 8) What were your excursions on the ocean like, and how did you get there?
 * 9) Did anything interesting happen when you were out at sea?
 * 10) How did you feel when you were on the ships, and or running the gun?
 * 11) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Did you shoot anything down when you were a gunner?
 * 12) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Did you form any friendships while you were in service?
 * 13) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What battles were your ships in? Be specific.
 * 14) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How did you stay in touch with your family?
 * 15) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What did you do when you were off duty?
 * 16) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Did you receive any war related injuries?
 * 17) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Where were you when the war ended?
 * 18) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How and when did you return home?
 * 19) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How were you accepted by your family and by the community?
 * 20) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Were you able to quickly adjust to civilian life?
 * 21) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Have you had any contact with any of the men that you had served with during the war?
 * 22) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are you in any veterans’ organizations?
 * 23) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How did serving in the war affect you as a person?
 * 24) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What lessons of life did you learn from the war?

Hostetter: Mr. Earl W. Walker July 29, 1926 World War II, Korean War, Navy and Armed Guard Highest rank BT3 South Lebanon Township, PA Conducted on October 1, 2012 for the Veterans History Project By: Nathanael Hostetter and Linden Bennetch

Bennetch: What was your childhood like before you were in the service?

Mr. Walker: I was born and raised on a farm. Being a farm boy included a lot of hard work. I used to milk 17 cows in the morning and at night when I came home from school and before I went to school.

Hostetter: How many siblings did you have and what were your parents’ jobs?

Mr. Walker: On the farm, my dad worked on the railroad after we got off the farm. Mom would help milk the cows when we lived on the farm.

Hostetter: How many siblings did you have or do you have?

Mr. Walker: Eight of us. Six brothers and two sisters

Bennetch: Do you have any other family members who served in the military?

Mr. Walker: I have one sister and my older brother and myself, It was three of us. Normy was in, he was in Korean War.

Bennetch: What did they do in the military?

Mr. Walker: My sister drove a staff car. She’d drive the big wheels around. She had a good job. She didn’t get to go over seas. Normy, my brother who just passed away, he was in the marines. He was a mechanic on a jet engine. Harold, he was my older brother, he was a pharmacist mate. I don’t know what else he had done.

Hostetter: How did you enlist in the war and why?

Mr. Walker: Well, I quit school real early and went to a trade school. In trade school I learned how to weld. I was welding at the shipyard along the Delaware River; that’s in Chester in West Chester. That’s down in Pennsylvania. I seen all these man of war ships going up and down the Delaware. One day I wound up at the recruiting office. I wanted to see where all of these ships were going. I found out where they were going.

Hostetter: Why did you choose the Navy and the armed guard?

Mr. Walker: The Armed guard was a special branch of the service and nobody had after boot camp nobody knew about the armed guard. It was kinda a secret thing because it was dangerous, I guess, and that that’s how I got into the armed guard. You were more or less drafted into it.

Bennetch: So did they choose you out of like?

Mr. Walker: No, I don’t know how many of us from the company of the boot training. I think I am a little ahead of myself. After boot training they sent us to Little Creek VA, the gunnery school. That’s when we discovered we were in the armed guard. That was about a 2-week schooling. We had a they had an old battle ship. I think it was a battleship, no it wasn’t a battleship it was they called it a the baduca. It was a ship. It had a couple of guns on it. That’s where we got broke in on firing these guns. That was you learned how to take them apart in the dark. So it was a good training for us. I remember the old baduca was a like I said an old gun ship. And we were on it for a couple of days, so we slept on it. That’s where I learned to sleep in a hammock.

Bennetch: How did you adapt to military life?

Mr. Walker: I thought I adapted to it very well. If you did what you were told to do, you didn’t have a problem.

Hostetter: Where did you serve throughout your career as a BT3 and on the ships?

Mr. Walker: I didn’t get when I was in the armed guard, I was a seaman. I didn’t, I didn’t go for my gun rave rating, because I didn’t want to be a gunner. So when I got on a destroyer, that’s when I became a snipe. A snipe is a sailor that makes steam to run the generators that makes the ship go. That was pretty interesting. It was really hot down there, but you can’t have everything.

Bennetch: What were your trips on the ocean like when you would go across, when you take the stuff or if you would take anything?

Mr. Walker: My first ship going across the Atlantic, back then they loaded them up, I can’t describe how they put the things on there. It’s a 2, 3 decks, its all full of army equipment. Guns, tanks, we even had two railroad steam engines on there. I don’t know what they used the steam engines for, but they were on.

Hostetter: Did anything interesting ever happen to you when you were on the ships going across the sea?

Mr. Walker: Yes, the first ship I was on, after we unloaded our cargo in England, going home, they put ballast-stone on the deck, they put it up even with the gunnel. So I was on a friend of mine. We were going on mid-watch, and he was a head of me. And we had a light. It was pitch black; we can’t see nothing. I was holding onto this rope walking toward my gun mount. And the ship rolled over and the water came up and grabbed me and took me off the ship, and I’m hanging over the side on this rope. Seemed like I was hanging there forever. So after awhile the ship rolled over again and the water got underneath me and pushed me back aboard. So when I got back to the gun mount, my buddy asked where I was, if I told you where I was, you wouldn’t believe me. So I tied myself fast t to the gun mount, I wasn’t going to leave twice in the same night.

Bennetch: How did you feel when you were on the ships and/or running the gun?

Mr. Walker: Well, on that particular ship I felt very bad. I was seasick. To get back to that ship, it was in Baltimore. It seemed to me it was in town. Why they were loading ammunition in town is beyond me. Anyway, I was taking the canisters out of the cradle that we had and putting it on the elevator to go down in the ammunition room. I had the handle. It was on the cap, I would pick this up and I was taking it over to the elevator to go down the hole. The cap came off and down it went. I had some surprised sailors down there. They come up quick. I had a lot of experiences on my first trip. That was one of them; that was a little crazy, but those things happen.

Hostetter: While you were a gunner, did you ever shoot at anything?

Mr. Walker: I shot an aircraft German planes, Dukous 88

Hostetter: Did you hit any of them?

Mr. Walker: Well everybody was shooting. It’s hard to tell.

Bennetch: Where were you when you were shooting, were you on the ship or land?

Mr. Walker: I was on the ship.

Hostetter: Did you form any friendships when you were in the service?

Mr. Walker: Yes quite a few. Yeah! The armed guard was Navy. And the people that operated the ship were civilians. And we got a long pretty well with them. Even though they got three times the pay we got, but that didn’t bother me. We made friends.

Bennetch: How did you stay in touch with your family when you were on the ships going everywhere?

Mr. Walker: Didn’t! The only time I got to see my family was when the ship came back to the states. That was only a couple days. They loaded up, and we go out again. I don’t know whether you knew this but there were 330 some ships out along the coast of United States. They were thinking this was fastest we come out of the harbors, until they discovered radar and some other type of detection that they can tell where the submarines were. But I was never, that never bothered me bout a ship being sunk. Some of the convoy had as high as 60, 70 ships in it. Sometimes half of them got sunk before they got to deliver the cargo.

Bennetch: Were they by German submarines?

Mr. Walker: Yeah

Hostetter: Did you receive any injuries during the war?

Mr. Walker: Nope, almost drowned a couple of times. You know you suppose to be able to swim. But, I couldn’t swim; I still can’t swim. My experience I’ll give you my experience in boot camp. Through the process we had to go through a lot of different classes. So when the swimming class came up, they said well the sailors that can swim line up there and the sailors that can’t line up over here. I thought I’d line up with the sailors that can swim. I jumped in the water, jumped in the water. I had to swim around the pool. And I went right to the bottom, so I felt something jag me and I grabbed a hold of it. It’s a pole that could pull me out of the water. So they chewed me out. Wanted to know what I was doing over here instead of being over there. Well, I said I thought I could swim. So I couldn’t swim. So they got discouraged with me, so they put a life jacket on me and sent me up an abandoning ship platform. That’s 25 feet off the water. I climbed up with the life preserver on. Told me how to hold it. You got to hold it so when you hit the water it don’t come up and break your neck. So for some reason when it hit the water, I turned upside down. So, they cussed me out. I still can’t swim. So I never, never really had a problem. One time, when the other ship I was on, it was when the war ended. The captain stopped the ship so everybody could go swimming. So, everybody was jumping overboard going swimming. I jumped overboard too you know. The captain he was watching. He seen that I was in trouble. So he hollered get this man out of the water and bring him up to me. He chewed me out. Then he said, as long as I am captain of this ship, I never want to see you in the water. He says I don’t want to have to write a letter home to your mother that you were lost at sea. That was the end of my swimming.

Hostetter: Do you have any other interesting stories about when you were in the war?

Mr. Walker: Oh, Good or bad?

Hostetter: We have time for all of them.

Mr. Walker: Well when I was in Tokyo, I went on liberty with some guys. It was sailors in this I don’t know what you call it a dive or just a plain bar room or what dance hall. And our ship sailors were there and other ships. And they two different ships you know but it didn’t seem like organizations but they didn’t seem very friendly. So they got into a big fight. So well I didn’t get into the fight, I grabbed this girl and went up to the bar got away from the fight. And they round up all the guys that were fighting and took them to the brig but they didn’t get me. That was a fun experience.

Bennetch: Did you ever have any bad experience when you were on the ships?

Mr. Walker: I had one. This one guy was rated higher than I was. He was a little on the crazy side, I thought. And we got into a fight. And I was going to throw him over the side. Its good I didn’t. But we had been on the gunnery practice and we had a lot of case shell casings on the deck. That stopped us from having this brawl that we were having. Then he turned out to be a decent guy. But at that time, it wasn’t going so good between us.

Hostetter: Where were you when the war ended?

Mr. Walker: The first one, World War II?

Hostetter:Yes!

Mr. Walker: I was in the middle of the ocean. I was on this this is the European war. I was on the tanker, and we got loaded with the heavy oil for the ships, and we were taking out to the Philippians. On the way out, is when we got news on the ship wherever they got the news from, that is where I was. Now, when the war was over, I don’t know if you ever seen the picture of this sailor kissing this nurse in time square. Did you ever see it?

Hostetter: No!

Mr. Walker: Yeah, well I got to meet the guy. He use to come up to the ship, I use to work on the ship in Massachusetts for 20 some years. He came up there. His name was Mecousie, George Mecousie from Rhode Island, Massachusetts somewhere. A lot of sailors tried to imitate the sailor that was kissing this girl the nurse.

Bennetch: How and when did you return home?

Mr. Walker: In the 2nd World War or the 1st? In World War II or Korea?

Bennetch: World War II.

Mr. Walker: I don’t remember. I don’t remember that.

Bennetch: What about Korea?

Mr. Walker: That was in 1954. The ship, I was on an aircraft carrier. The ship was coming home for overhaul expensive work, because it was going back over again. But before I’m ahead of myself. Before we left, I got married. I was home three days. Then I had to get back to the ship. We were leaving on our cruise. I will call it a cruise. Going back to Korea.

Hostetter: Were you any part of any major events during either World War II or Korea?

Mr. Walker: Well in World War II, in Normandy. It was a big mess. The weather got real bad. A lot of the soldiers and sailors got seasick. Not only that, they were wet and a lot of them were killed even before they got off ship.

Hostetter: What about the atomic bomb on Japan, were you a part of that at all?

Mr. Walker: I wasn’t I wasn’t a part, I wasn’t part of it, but I know how it got there. The cruiser //Indianapolis// had it on. And they had a high speed run to take it from United States from San Francisco to Kenya. They delivered it, then the captain never received any more orders of what to do, so he thought he take the ship out and have target practice. Well, the plane that was suppose to be pulling the sleeve for practice. Couldn’t find the ship. The ship was sunk. It went down pretty quick. Most all of the sailors that were on it got ate by sharks. That was a bad deal. Of course, they held the captain. He wasn’t at fault. Cause he was doing what he was suppose to be doing. Every so many degrees they change course. So if there is a sub there it’s hard for them to get a straight shot at it. That’s what he was doing, but this skipper of the sub got one in there. Blew it up! There’s a book out about the //Indianapolis//. I had it but I don’t know. I gave it to someone to read and he never returned it.

Hostetter: After the war was over and you came home, how were you accepted with your family and community?

Mr. Walker: Well I don’t really know. My family was glad that I was home. But, as for other people, I guess they were glad too that the war was over and the all people were coming home. It wasn’t like the Vietnam War, where they spit on the soldiers and sailors. And did all kinds of things that they shouldn’t have done. Saved by the bell!

Hostetter: Were you able to quickly adjust to civilian life again?

Mr. Walker: Yes, I got a job. The service people, service men were given $20 a week for 54 weeks I bet. I didn’t collect it. I went and got a job at a stone quarry. $1.05 an hour. But back then we didn’t have the price of things as they are today.

Bennetch: Have you any contact with the people you served with?

Mr. Walker: One fella, Frank Gernie, he lived in Berks County. Then he moved to Lancaster County. Then eventually moved to Florida, then he moved back to Pennsylvania again. He’s living at Winter Heaven, no Beach Heaven, up in Poconos. I do get to see him once in awhile. But he is the only one. You know when you serve on 9 different ships, it’s hard to even remember the names because you know that would be a lot of people to keep in your head.

Hostetter: Are you in any veteran’s organizations or groups or anything like that?

Mr. Walker: American Legion.

Bennetch: How did serving in the war affect you?

Mr. Walker: Well, I think it did me well. I left school when I was 16. I didn’t get the education I should have had or could have had.

Bennetch: What lessons of life did you learn from the war?

Mr. Walker: Well, I learned honesty and do what you are told to do. That’s the main thing. Do what you are told to do. then you wouldn’t have any problems.

Hostetter: Do you have anything else you would like to tell us about?

Mr. Walker: Yeah I didn’t tell you about the shell back. That’s crossing the equator. When you when I was a pollywog. A Pollywog is a sailor that didn’t cross the equator. So this, this is a great thing. Of course, it wasn’t great for us. So they had a big what should I say a ceremony I had the uniform of the day. Black shoe, white stockings, a sneaker, black and white whatever. A pair of skibby shorts. This was on the aircraft carrier. So we got on I got on the elevator. We all had to get on our hands and knees. So the elevator went up to the flight deck and we had the whole family was up there. This just different guys on the ship. This was a royal baby he was a big guy. We had to go through a line. They had shalalies that’s long with a piece of canvas with nuts and bolts in it. They hit you in the butt with that as hard as they can. I ran pretty fast getting through there and held my hands on my butt. But they did whack me. What I remember about that is going on my hands and knees and you had to holler about being a lowly, lowly pollywog. We got to the dentist, they opened your mouth and squirted oil in it, you went to the big guy, he was the oil baby. No, what was he? Anyway he was big and his belly was full of shaving cream and toothpaste. Then you had to go and kiss him in the belly. He was sitting in a chair like this…You had to crawl between his legs shoved your head into his belly. Then you ran through the line. You had 2 guys 2 lines and they were hitting you beating you with this shillalah. Then after that, you had to crawl through a garbage chute. They kept the garbage for about a week. It got all stinky and stuff. You had to crawl through the garbage chute. Guys puked in there. So when you got through there, they had the elevator down about 4 foot. A canvas in there with water. So you jumped in there and they hosed you down good. Got all the scum off of you. Then you became a shellback. It’s quite a thing. You know back years back they use to sacrifice a sailors life walk off a plank, but they don’t do that today. So I became a shell back. I got a document to show you I was a shellback. I think Helen showed it to you.

Hostetter: I would like to thank you for doing this interview with us.

Bennetch: Thank you for taking the time.

Mr. Walker: No problem. Nothing really spectacular happened to me except almost drowned a couple times. I probably left a lot of good stuff out. When you get to be 86, you start forgetting things. Well I hope I gave you a good interview.

Hostetter: Yup, you did.

Mr. Walker: Nobody shot me. That’s good. I was going to shoot a guy though. I had when we were in South Hampton England. We had the gang way watch and nobody was allowed to board ship that didn’t have a pass. A war 45 and this guy wasn’t going to show me anything. And I pulled a gun out and put a shell in the chamber and it makes a noise when it clicks. I would have shot him if I needed to. He showed me his credentials. That what I was trained to do. And I would have done it! Mr. Earl Walker By: Linden Bennetch and Nate Hostetter

Mr. Earl Walker was born on July 29, 1926. Mr. Walker was involved in World War II and the Korean War. He was in the Navy and Armed Guard. His highest rank while in the service was a BT3 (Boiler Technician 3). Mr. Walker was born and raised on a farm with his six brothers and two sisters. He was not the only one in his family to serve in the military. Mr. Walker’s sister drove a staff car, one of his brothers was a pharmacist’s mate and another brother worked as a mechanic on jet engines. Mr. Walker enlisted in the Army because he was interested in knowing where all the ships were going that went up and down the Delaware River. Mr. Walker served in a special branch of the service called the Armed Guard. This distinctive branch was a secret part of the service because it was very dangerous. A person could not even apply to be in it. One had to be chosen because of his skills. Mr. Walker was selected out of the people in his boot camp squad and only found out that he had been chosen after he was sent to a gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia. The Armed Guard entailed about a two week schooling period. While there he trained on an old battleship called the Baduca. On this ship he learned to shoot a gun, sleep on a ship, and assemble guns on the ship in the dark. He had to sleep in a hammock and that was the first time he had ever done this. Throughout his career as a BT3 he served on many ships. Mr. Walker was called a snipe on the ship. A snipe is a sailor that makes steam run into the generator to make the ship go. It was a very interesting job, but it was also very hot in the part of the ship where he had to work. The first ship Mr. Walker was on took supplies, such as guns, tanks, and two railroad steam engines over the Atlantic Ocean to England. When he was on mid-watch on the ship it was pitch black and all he had was a little flashlight to see. One night as Mr. Walker was approaching the gun mount the ship rolled over and he had to hang over the side of the ship. He hung there for a quite a while until someone noticed him and pulled him up. When his friend asked where he had been, Mr. Walker said, “You would never believe me!” An interesting aside that Mr. Walker shared with us was concerning him becoming a shellback. Before crossing the equator a sailor was known as a pollywog. After crossing the equator a special ceremony was held to celebrate this occurrence. One had to dress up in the uniform of the day; black shoes, white socks, skivvy shorts, and a white shirt. The men had to get on their hands and knees and quickly pass through a line of other servicemen. These men had shalalies, [a piece of canvas with nuts and bolts in it, and tried to hit the men on their butts who were on their hands and knees. Mr. Walker remembers being really whacked! After that initiation you became a true shellback. While Mr. Walker was away from home it was very hard to keep in touch with his family. Most of the time he was not in contact with them at all. The only time he would see them was when the ship he was on was docked in America and he was allowed to go home for a few days. Mr. Walker did not receive any injuries in either war. He did almost drown a couple of times though because he did not know how to swim. He also witnessed a big fight when the ship he was on was docked in Tokyo. The fight happened at a bar between two ships’ crews. He was smart and never got involved in the fight. After the fight went on for a bit, the police rounded up the men that were fighting and took them to the brig. Since Mr. Walker did not participate in the fight, he did not have to go to the brig. After Mr. Walker got home from the wars, his family was very glad to see him and so was everyone from his town. He was very quick to adjust back into civilian life and instead of taking money from the government he found a job at a stone quarry making a $1.05 an hour. During the time Mr. Walker spent in the service he formed many friendships. He shared that the best lesson he learned from the wars was that if you do what your told, you will not have any problems. We would like to thank Mr. Walker for serving our country during this critical time as well as providing us with a better understanding of what it was like to be in the service. We sincerely appreciate his time and effort to aid us in accomplishing this project.