UPDATE: I’ve added some more pics of what might have been General Walker’s jeep. It shows some of the modifications made to it.
http://www.bevinalexander.com/korea/korean-war-photos.htm Brigadier General F.W. Farrell, Korean Military Advisory Group chief, confers on August 18, 1950, with Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker (seated in jeep), Eighth Army commander, during the height of the Pusan Perimeter battle. (U.S. Army photo.)
This video shows McArthur decorating Walker. Note Walker’s padded jeep seat.
This photo shows what I think is McArthur’s jeep (?). It isn’t quite the same as Walker’s jeep, but does have the same handle positioned over the cowl.
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General Walton Walker, aka “Johnny Walker”, was killed as a part of this jeep wreck. What’s curious to me is the mod to the area under the rear of the jeep (gas tank??) and the modified steps (don’t normally see that). You can learn a great deal about General Walker here:
http://www.oocities.org/generalwaltonwalker/11walkerbio.html
View all of the sellers items on eBay
It’s amazing that you can unearth on the internet in the matter of minutes.
Sounds like this was actually Gen. Walton Walker. The account of his dead can be found here:
http://www.oocities.org/generalwaltonwalker/11walkerbio.html
An excerpt (the description of his jeep fits the picture: custom seats, fender skirts & body extension. Gen. Walker was an early “modder”):
Drive Like Hell
“On 23 December, 1950, Walker climbed into his jeep and left his forward headquarters near Seoul. Because he, like Patton, spent so much time in his jeep, he liked for it to be comfortable. His driver, George A. Belton, had specially designed the jeep. It had heavily cushioned automobile seats, oversized fenders and fender skirts to keep mud from spattering all over, and a rear extension to allow for passenger comfort. It was so popular he designed several more for other high-ranking officers.
Walker’s trip that morning had two purposes. He was planning on handing out some special Christmas presents. First, he had unit citations for the 24th Division and the British Commonwealth 27th Brigade. Secondly he had a Silver Star he wanted to personally pin on a twenty-five year old captain in the 24th Division-his son, Sam S. Walker. It was one of the very few missions Walton Walker failed to complete.
Like Patton, Walker’s aggressiveness displayed itself in his driving habits. Walker loved to drive fast. He instructed his driver, George Belton, to make record time.
Belton was driving Walker’s jeep past a column of trucks on the opposite side of the road. As they passed the line of trucks, Walker was thinking about his old friend and boss, George Patton. Thinking out loud, he remarked, “I wonder how George would have done it?”
A single truck coming from the opposite direction suddenly pulled out, trying to get around the vehicle in front of it. Ironically, Walker’s jeep was only traveling at twenty miles per hour, but it was still too fast to get out of the way. The three-quarter ton weapons carrier, driven by an ROK soldier, collided head on with Walker’s jeep. The general struck the windshield, was thrown from the jeep, and landed on the side of the road. He died almost immediately. An ambulance was pulled out of the convoy and Walker was taken to a field hospital an hour away. The field surgeon examined him and stated quite simply, “The commander is dead.”
Great information Dan. Thanks for doing that research.
– Dave
Agreed, wrong info. “Walker died of lung cancer at his home in Dallas in 1993.” This was info I found on Gen. Edwin ‘Ted’ Walker
Its nice to put some context to Gen Walkers accident. My unit conducts all our awards ceremonies at the base of his statue on US Army Garrison Yongsan. He clearly made an impression on South Korea, there are always fresh flower arangements placed at the statue.
Thanks for your input guys! Much appreciated. I’ve found an additional photo of General Walton Walker in his jeep and a movie of Walker being decorated by McArthur.
– Dave
is there anyway to find more info on the soldier driving the ambulance that picked up the General. I think it was my Dad!! from his stories told of the event.
Hi Sondra,
Wow, that would be great to verify. I fortunately, I don’t have any more information. Maybe a search of newspapers (such as newspapers.com) for that time period would yield more information.
Best of luck,
– Dave
And he is the namesake of the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank.
Thank for the info. my great uncle was George belton his driver listen to stories of this incident and more when I was a kid. Me and my dad was just discussing this incident the other day.
Chris,
Thanks for the additional details! I’m sure George also had quite a few stories beside this one. Was he injured in the accident?
– Dave